


The Million Dollar Question

by vbollman



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Minor Spoilers for Season 2, Minor Swearing, Slow Build, minor spoilers for season 1, only minor divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 26,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23270566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vbollman/pseuds/vbollman
Summary: Steve and Danny had no idea how many times they (or their Ohana) had been asked this particular question, and depending on whom you asked depended on the answer.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 14
Kudos: 162





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer…. I don’t own the boys in anyway shape or form. Much to my dismay

Not Beta’d. All mistakes are my own.

Steve and Danny had no idea how many times they (or their Ohana) had been asked this particular question, and depending on whom you asked depended on the answer. 

~~~

Someone in the Governor’s office had decided that with all the property damage the team could cause on any given day; that it would only be fair if they did a feature in one of the islands magazines; and they didn't really give 5-0 the opportunity to say no. 

_Aloha Life_ , once they had been given the go ahead and the complete cooperation of the team, started with simple questions, the type that anyone who saw the group together could answer, the fluff questions... A simple bio for each member past and present, the standard series of questions and then the million dollar question. 

They even went so far as to get permission to talk with friends and family of the team. And yes you guessed it some of those they had put away as well.

What they didn't figure was the laughter that, that one question would get.

From everyone! Friends, family, _and_ those they put away.

The million dollar question? When did the two of you get together?

When anyone actual managed to ask Steve and Danny that particular question, you always got the same answer. Steve would smile and glance at Danny, Danny would scratch his chin, shrug his shoulders, and glance at Steve, and the two of them would just look back at the person asking before answering, "We dunno, it just did."

_Helpful... really gentlemen... helpful_

At which point Danny would start the conversation.... "Honestly pinpointing when 'I' became 'we' in more than our professional life is next to impossible to tell. Even from the start of our rather explosive partnership, we knew that we had something good going on. But to really look at just one point and go yes that was it. No, uh uh, it's just not possible." 

Placing a hand briefly on Danny's shoulder, Steve smirked slightly. "I knew the first time Danny slugged me that we would rock this island one way or another." He stated rubbing his jaw in remembrance. "I knew when I meet Grace for the first time, that there was nothing I wouldn't do for that little girl, and I knew that when Charlie came around, that I would burn the world for the two of them if needed." 

("Nothing but an animal I tell ya." Danny mumbles in the back ground, a rather large smile splitting his face.)

"But Danny is right” (Can I get that in writing please? Huh? Honestly) "there is no way to pick one... incident... over the years and say that was it." Steve explained, ignoring the interruption from Danny.

_Incident? Why that particular word? Care to explain?_

Sharing another smile between them, the couple settled back in their seats, shoulders brushing and hands close enough to touch, without actually touching. "No."

****

****

**_The First Incident._ **

****

Danny sat with his feet buried in the sand and bottle of beer in his hand. The fact that he was sitting out back at his partners place without his partner... Well. No sense in waking up Steve. After all one of them should be able to get some sleep.

He didn't mean to come here. But he didn't want to be alone, not after witnessing the shooting at the football game. 

_With his daughter present!_

Fuck. 

Gracie.

Finishing his beer, he contemplated opening a new one briefly, but left it where it was in the box. Stretching out and closing his eyes, he figured he could get an hour or two of sleep before he needed to clean up his mess and get out before Steve woke up.

~~H50~~

Rolling out of bed, Steve stretched, before taking care of his morning ablations, grabbing his trunks and heading to the beach for his morning swim.

Halfway down the staircase, Steve paused and took a cautious look around. Something was off, but he wasn't sure exactly what it was. Clearing the house quickly and finding nothing, he figured it was just the last twinges of unease from dealing with Frank Salvo and the gang shooting over the past few days.

Heading out to the _lana'i_ , Steve paused once more, his gut telling him that something was off, not wrong just... off. After a moment of searching the shadows with his eyes, he took a few cautious steps further out the door, before he finally realized that someone was stretched out in one of his beach chairs. A few more steps down, and he relaxed, noticing the familiar blond hair. Moving towards his partner, he saw the empty beer bottles and had a moment of total clarity.

"Hey Buddy...come on Danny. I need you to wake up for me."

"St've?" He got as a sleepy mumble.

"Yeah man, you alright? Come on let’s get you up." Grasping hold of Danny he managed to get the shorter man up and braced against his own body, before turning them towards the house.

"Rach'l is gonna use the shooting to take Grace 'way." Danny mumbled into Steve’s shoulder, blindly following directions into the house.

Steve paused briefly as he took in just how much a punch in the gut that was to him, and then tried to imagine what that would do to Danny, before shaking his head. "It won't happen Danno." He promised.

"Hope y're right."

"Come on. Up the stairs you go. Do you need the washroom?" Getting a slight shake of the head, Steve led Danny to his room, and pushed back the covers of his recently vacated bed, a moment of work later; he helped Danny settle under the covers, and smoothed the blond hair back. “Sleep Danno, I'll wake you in a few hours."

"'kay"

Grabbing the clothes that he had managed to strip off his partner, he grabbed the clothes hamper and headed off to the utility room, starting a quick load so that Danny had something clean to slip into when he woke up.

With a last glance up the stairs, Steve headed back out for his morning swim; His mind already working on several ways to stop Rachel from keeping Grace away from Danny. 

After all, it was his job as Danny's partner to always have his back.

2.

**_"You know what I'm done! How about that alright? If my word is not good enough for you then I do not know what I'm doing here."_ **

The words circled around Steve's mind.

He could lose Danny.

It was almost dawn, and he didn't know what he was going to do. The few very short, very troubled hours of sleep that he had managed, well let’s just say that being rested was the last thing he was.

He had to keep in mind the evidence. Everything they had found pointed at Meka.

And Danny wouldn't or couldn't believe any of it.

Losing Danny wasn't an option.

Growling softly under his breath he finally gave up on getting any more sleep, and headed out to the beach. Swimming had always cleared his head before, maybe this time he could come up with a way to maybe convince Danny to at least consider listening to him.

He really didn't want to lose Danny.

~~H50~~

Leaning against the Camaro Steve waited for Danny to finish saying his final goodbyes to Amy. The echoes of the other night still in his head; Danny's _"I'm done."_ not staying quiet. Scrubbing his hands across his face, he tried to hide his unease under his smile when he spotted his partner coming towards him.

"Chin and Kona?" Danny questioned, handing over the keys to the car without a thought.

"They wanted to change before heading to my place for a few beers." Steve said with a shrug of his shoulder, relief leaking into every line of his body, knowing he had the trust of his partner back. It's funny how a single set of keys could do that. 

"Need to stop at mine so I can do the same."

Giving Danny a small smile he indicated the small bag sitting at his feet. "We stopped on the way here. I wasn't sure how late we would be getting back home." 

Sighing Danny closed his eyes briefly before getting in the car. "Thanks."

Settling in beside his partner Steve echoed the sigh, trying to find the words that he needed. The words that he had really never though he would have to say and have them mean so much. "I'm sorry. About everything Danny. I said I would have your back and when you needed me, I didn't." he said softly, starting the car.

Danny was quiet for a few minutes, allowing the silence to soothe him, glad that the past few days had finally ended. He shifted slightly so he was partially facing his partner, and tentatively placed his hand over Steve’s. "Next time, you'll know better." The unspoken words giving Steve his forgiveness.

Flipping his hand over Steve laced their fingers together before bring up their hands and rubbing his cheek against Danny's knuckles. "There won't be a next time."

Danny chuckled slightly, giving Steve’s hand a squeeze before letting go so the other man could drive. "There is always going to be a next time. We just need to learn from it and become better because of it."

Steve smiled relieved. Thanking God that he wasn't losing Danny because of this. 

3.

Danny Hated Nick Taylor.

If the man wasn't already dead, Danny would have been happy to kill him. Then bring him back and do it again.

And then allow Chin and Kono a turn as well.

Before killing the man himself one last time. Maybe twice more, depending on how charitable he felt.

After agreeing on which bar they were going to, Danny had sent a quick text out to Chin and Kono telling them where to meet. From here Danny sat and silently watched Steve slowly lose control. And it wasn't just over how much pain the man was in physically. Danny knew how many stitches Steve was ignoring in his left arm.

After watching Steve zone out more than once after a few beers, he said goodbye to the others and directed Steve to the car. "Come on, my place this time yeah?"

"I'm fine Danny. I can go home."

"Nope. Not until the windows are replaced, and I know that they won't be done until tomorrow. So my place. I'm sure we can find a game on, and we can stop and pick up some beer and pizza on our way there."

"I could point out many reasons why we shouldn't go to your place, but I have a feeling you would ignore everything I say."

"I would. Do you want to know why Steven? Huh? Because it has no bullet holes in the walls, and its windows are intact. Which means it's safer from both the criminal and environmental elements than your place. So please. My place. T.V. pizza and beer. Can we do that?"

Steve just nodded and stayed silent until after they had stopped and picked up a case of beer. "This is the second time I didn't trust your instincts. I told you last time that it wouldn't happen again."

"I told you last time that it would happen again." Danny pointed out, "I told you this time that I didn't blame you. It's hard to see the bigger picture from the inside, especially when it's someone you trusted for years to have your back. With all the information you had picked up over the years of trusting that man, I probably wouldn't have listened to me either."

"But-,"

"Not your fault Steven." Danny stated his voice firm.

Steve glanced around the tidy apartment once they arrived before looking at Danny, and sighing softly. "It would probably be easier if we pulled out the bed. Then neither of us would have to worry about falling on the floor when we inevitably fall asleep on the couch."

"That is very true. You do that while I go back out to the car and grab your bag that we left there."

"Don't you trust me Danny?"

"With my life Steve; doesn’t mean I don't think you'll run just to prove you can."

Green eyes meet blue for a long moment before Steve conceded the point, and turned away to pull out the bed. 

Changing into the sweats that Danny had packed for him while his arm was being looked at, he finally started to relax. Accepting the bottle of beer Danny handed him, he sunk into the bed, wiggling slightly to find the best angle to watch the game they had found, the box of pizza sitting between the two of them.

He didn't realize he had zoned out again until he noticed the lack of noise, and felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. 

"Steve? You okay Babe?"

"No." Not what he meant to say.

Danny nodded his head as if he had been expecting that answer, and pulled the covers up from where they rested on the foot of the bed, and settled in properly, "come here." When Steve made no move one way or the other Danny added a soft "please."

Steve slid down until he was lying stiffly beside Danny, but rolled over at Danny’s urging, and wrapped his arms around the shorter man with his head resting on Danny's chest. Relaxing finally as he felt blunt nails scratch against his scalp.

"Go to sleep Steven."

With another quiet sigh, he allowed the steady _thud thump_ of Danny's heart beat to soothe him into dreamless sleep.

4.

Danny watched as Steve paced while he talked to the Governor in his office. As soon as he saw Steve drop into his chair, he knew he needed to do something to stop the man from doing something extremely stupid.

Kono looked at Danny and then over to Steve's office before once more back at Danny. "You'll punch him for me, if he decides to go after Hesse alone right."

"It wouldn't be the first time I've punched him." Danny replied with a grim smile, waving Kono away.

Entering Steve's office, he closed all the blinds before looking at Steve. "Steven look at me."

Receiving a negative shake of the head, Danny walked around the desk and pushed the chair back. Sitting on the edge of the desk he used his feet to pull the chair forward so that Steve's forehead was resting against Danny's chest. "It's not your fault." Getting a sound that seemed like disagreement, Danny wrapped one hand around the back of Steve’s neck massaging the muscles there gently for a few moments, before using the other one to tilt his chin back so he was finally looking into Steve’s' blood shot eyes. "It is not your fault that he survived. It is not your fault that he is still on this island. This is in no way your fault."

Steve blinked and wrapped his arms around Danny. Fingers tugged to untuck the blond’s shirt enough to get his hands onto warm skin; fingers digging slightly harder than comfortable into the muscle of Danny’s hips as he held tightly. "I want to believe you."

"Then I will keep saying it until you do. This is not your fault."

Steve sighed pulling Danny closer, almost onto his lap, soaking up the warmth and comfort the other man gave easily. Breathing in tandem the two men sat silently until a gentle tap on the door, pulled them back.

Standing Steve waiting for Danny to right his shirt, before pulling him into a quick hug; Placing his lips against Danny's cheek for a second, he whispered his thanks, before placing a chaste kiss on the corner of the shorter man's mouth. As he started to pull away Danny pulled him back down, the slight scrape of whiskers against his own. "I will punch you again if you try something stupid." the blond whispered leaving the imprint of his own lips on Steve's jaw line. 

Steve smiled. He had no doubts at all that Danny would do it.

~~H50~~

Sitting in the sand in his backyard, Steve looked down at the blond using his legs for a pillow. "I should have shot him in the face." He murmured, just loud enough to be heard over the waves.

"I told you that already Steven."

"I should have listened."

"You did listen to the important part."

"I wasn't going to let the same man be responsible for both times you punched me. Besides Kono would have shot me if I would have left her behind."

Danny nodded his agreement, wiggling slightly to make himself more comfortable despite the sand. "You know what we need?"

"Another beer?"

"Well that as well. What we need my friend, is a hammock. Star gazing would be much more comfortable with a hammock."

Grinning Steve had to agree. "Less sandy as well." he taunted slightly, handing Danny the beer from the cooler beside him.

"Definitely less sandy." Danny said with a smile relaxing back and turning his eyes once more to the heavens.

5.

Danny watched Steve in concern after telling him about Kouji's death. Looking over the pictures displayed on the smart table, and seeing the tension in the other's man body he sighed before hopping up on edge of the table. 

"Chin is going to kill you if he sees that." Steve murmured barely glancing at the blond.

"You'll protect me." Danny answered promptly, knowing it to be the truth. Placing a hand on Steve's upper arm, he tugged gently, "c'mere."

Getting a look in return, but feeling the tremble in the muscles fighting to stay still under his hand, Danny slowly slid his hand down the arm he was holding until he could grasp the belt loops on Steve's cargoes, and gave a stronger tug. "Steven."

Steve sighed softly before giving into his partner. Stepping over and between Danny's legs, he allowed the blond to pull him in closer, and let his forehead rest on Danny's shoulder, arms loosely around the other man's waist. "I just..." He tried to explain, the words needed just beyond his reach.

Nodding his head slightly in understanding, hearing what his partner couldn't say, Danny secured Steve to him by hooking his ankles behind Steve’s' knees. "Mary." he stated, and received a slight nod in return. "If it would have been one of my sisters I would have done the same thing." Feeling Steve tense even more beneath his hands, he slid them up into the darker hair and gripped firmly enough to help make his point. "I'm serious Steven. If it would have been Stella or Bridget I would have had them shipped out faster than they could say my full name. I am not joking. Hell, I would do the same thing for my brother as well. Never mind the kids, them I would have had escorted under armed guard."

Steve wrapped his arms tighter around Danny, shuddering slightly in relief at the confirmation that he had done the right thing. "I know she understands, but I can't stop thinking about Dad doing the same thing."

"I know Mary understands Steve. Hell she called _me_ to make sure that I would keep an eye on _you_. She's worried that you will do something stupid." Pausing slightly he added, "You will keep her in the loop unlike your dad did. You won't cut off all communications with her like your dad did to the two of you."

"I wouldn't do that to her. Even if you would let me."

Danny allowed the embrace to continue for a few more minutes, before pushing Steve back slightly. Sliding off the table he turned and started the shutdown process, before turning once more and smiling softly at Steve, one hand curling on the other man’s hip. "Your place tonight or mine?" There was no way in hell he was leaving the man alone tonight.

"There should be a game on tonight." Steve answered, thankful in more ways than one that Danny was his partner.

"And you have the better T.V. So your place it is. We need to stop at mine for a few things though."

"You already have a few changes of clothes at my place."

Danny smiled again before looping an arm around the taller man and directing him out of the office. "But I don't have the other things I'm going to need tonight and tomorrow morning. So we will be stopping for a minute, and we will be picking them up."

"Slave driver."

"Just for that Steven, I am driving MY car. You can order the food."

Steve smiled softly, draping his arm around Danny's shoulders, before digging into his pocket for the keys and handing them over. "Yes dear."

Snorting, Danny grinned brightly, wiggling his fingers into his partner’s side and getting an aborted giggle in return, as Steve flinched and clamped his hand around the fingers to stop the tickling. "I will remember the fact that _you_ my friend are ticklish." Danny told him, "and use it against you when you least expect it."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Steve returned, an answering grin on his face.

6.

Danny let himself into Steve's house and called out as he punched in the alarm code. Not getting an answer he ventured towards the window facing the _lana'i_ and saw the towel draped across one of the chairs. Muttering to himself about crazy SEALs and their fetish for open water, he loaded up the waiting cooler with ice and beer and emptied the bags of food he brought with him into the appropriate spots. Checking the window once more he figured by the way the faint shadow was moving back towards the beach that he had at least 20 minutes before Steve was once again on dry land. 

Moving away from the window Danny slipped up the stairs and into Steve's room to change out of his work clothes and into something more comfortable. Noticing the nearly full hamper, he grabbed it on his way down and started the load before heading back out to wait.

Steve smiled as he exited the water seeing Danny stretched out in one of the chairs, bare toes dug into the sand, and wondered if the other man knew just how much he was started to relax on the island despite his complaining about the 'pineapple infested hell-hole'. Grabbing his towel he soaked up some of the excess moisture, and started to reach out with one hand, hesitated briefly before running cool damp fingers through the blond hair. "Hey."

"You know, I would normally kill someone for touching my hair without permission." Danny stated slitting his eyes open just enough to see and gave Steve a lazy smile.

"If anyone asks I'll tell them I barely made it out with my fingers intact." 

"You do that." 

Steve ran his fingers through the blond silky strands a few more times just because he could before he motioned to the house. "Just going to run up and have a shower."

Nodding his head, Danny closed his eyes once again, "I brought stuff for the grill." 

"Perfect."

Hearing the _lana'i_ doors open again a few minutes’ later (damn Navy showers), Danny opened the cooler and pulled out two beers, opening one and holding it up just as Steve reached him. " _Mahalo_."

" _A'ole pilika_ ” Danny answered back, smirking when he heard Steve choke on his beer. 

"Not something I ever expected to hear from you Danno."

"Grace insisted. So I learned a few words here and there."

"Makes sense I suppose. I can't wait for you to say something in front of Chin and Kono."

Shrugging his shoulders, Danny glanced at Steve briefly as he took a sip of his beer, "Catherine coming back tonight?"

"Nope. When the Tsunami alert sounded they took the fleet into deeper water. Even without the fake alert she would have been heading back to port tonight. She only had about 36 hours while they restocked."

"I'm sorry man."

"It is what it is. We knew what we signed up for long ago."

They sat in silence for a few minutes while they finished their beers, and when Steve got up to start the grill, Danny followed. Wrapping his arms around Steve's waist from behind, he rested his cheek between the taller man’s shoulder blades. "Steve? What are we going to do about the money?" He asked softly.

Turning around in Danny's arms he wrapped the blond in his own, and just stood there for a few minutes. "I don't think we have any other choice but to wait." He finally answered just as softly, "we have no idea who replaced the $10 million or know where to start digging to find out, without causing more problems. We knew when we took it to save Chin that it would come back to bite us in the ass eventually."

"I hate waiting."

"So do I. It's still worth it though."

"Ohana is always worth it.”

**_A’ole Pilika_ \- No problem.**

**_Mahalo_ \- Thanks**

7.

Reaching into the fridge for a Long Board, Steve paused when he heard the growl of the Camaro as it pulled into his driveway, followed by the slamming of the car door. 'Even the Camaro has a tone when Danny is in a mood.' he mentally grumbled allowing a grim smile to cross his face. Not that he really blamed his partner with the day he had had. Bypassing the beer, Steve reached for the bottle of scotch instead and two glasses. 

Pouring a couple fingers worth of scotch in each glass, he only had to wait for a few seconds before his partner walked through the door, agitation evident in the state of his hair. The normal slicked back appearance nowhere to be found, Handing one of the glasses over he took a sip of his own, "Are you alright?" 

"Am I alright? Am _I_ alright? No Steven I am not alright. Fucking Step Stan figured he could blackmail a fucking idiot housing commissioner, by taping the moron trying to scam money off of him. And then he told the moron that he had the fucking tapes." 

Danny paced up and down the room a few times; fingers scrubbing through his hair, making it stick on end even more. Downing the glass of scotch in his hand in a long swallow, he continued waving the glass around to prove his point. "My little girl was threatened with a gun to her head. The apple of my eye, the ray of sunshine that kept me going at the worst moments of my life had a _gun_ pointed at her head. There is nothing alright with that. And Stan... Do not get me started on Stan. That idiot didn't realize that he could have brought this to me. I am a cop Steven; A damn good one. My baby is living in his house, and that makes him fucking family, and he goes and does this stupid thing and he thinks that I wouldn't help him. I would do _anything_ to protect my little girl. I would do anything to protect my family even if I don't like them. If he didn't want to bring it to me he could have brought it to you. For fucks sake's, you are Grace's other emergency contact number; Or Chin and Kono. Any one of us would have been able to handle this better than he did."

Steve swapped out his own glass of scotch for Danny's empty one trying not to let his surprise show at the mention of being Grace's emergency contact number at the school. "Sip it this time." he prompted the other man. "Is anyone hurt?"

Taking another swallow of the scotch Danny shook his head. "No. No one is hurt." Pausing slightly he added, "well not much anyway. Bruce Hoffman will probably have a few bruises but nothing major."

"The housing commissioner?"

"Yes. And before you start I just pushed him into some shelving when we had a discussion about guns and little girls and how they don't belong in the same zip code. I explained to him that I had the tapes and he had better rethink his life choices."

Giving his partner a look Steve just waited him out. He knew Danny wouldn't just leave it there. It wasn't possible for Danny not to protect his family in more than one way. 

Shrugging, a nasty grin crossed Danny's face. "I _may_ have also asked Toast to keep an eye on this guy. Make sure he stayed above board in his dealings. And if the moron does try it again, Toast may or may not have a copy of those tapes that he _could_ release to someone who _could_ do something productive with them." He told Steve taking another sip of the drink in his hand. Wincing at the taste, he handed it back to Steve. "I shouldn't have any more of that. I haven't actually eaten enough to counteract the alcohol."

Taking the glass back thankful that Danny was in his right frame of mind again, Steve drained what was left before he placed it on the table and motioning Danny closer. "C'mere."

Attempting to smooth his hair back into some semblance of order, Danny stepped into the waiting arms and leaned into Steve's chest and let the other man soothe him.

"What did Rachel say?" 

Danny grimaced and wrapped his hands in the back of Steve's shirt holding tight. "She assumed that I was trying to make trouble for Stan, blame him for something that wasn't his fault. When I tried to talk to her, she just gave me a look of pure disappointment before she walked away." Breathing in his partners scent he continued. "I lied to her Steve. After everything was done I told her that it was a misunderstanding. That Stan was just caught in the middle and that it wasn't his fault." Taking another deep breath he tried to keep his voice from cracking, "and then I watched my little girl walk away from me, holding another man’s hand."

Steve closed his eyes, and pulled Danny closer trying his best to curl his body around his partner as the shuddering started, knowing that the man in his arms had finally broken enough to cry. "Geez Danny." He murmured softly, placing barely there kisses against the hair line and nuzzling his nose behind Danny’s ear.

The two of them stood like that for a while and when Steve noticed the shuddering come to a stop, pushed him away slightly. "C’mon I have something to show you outside."

Danny wiped his eyes and allowed Steve to direct him. Stepping out onto the _lana'i_ he immediately noticed the new piece of furniture. Giving a small wet sounding laugh Danny glanced up at Steve. "You bought a hammock."

Smiling Steve nudged Danny over to the hammock. "Yes I bought us a hammock. Now go get comfortable. I'll be there in a second."

Walking over, Danny removed his socks and shoes, as well as his tie, before allowing himself to fall, setting the hammock swinging. Stretching out on his back, he used his hands as a pillow and took a few deep cleansing breaths, trying to allow the stress from the day drift away. Hearing the soft thud of footsteps he looked up to see Steve coming up with a pillow and a couple bottles of water. 

Grabbing the pillow he tucked it under his head and placed a foot on the ground stopping the swaying so Steve could join him. When the taller man was settled on his back he gave a gentle kick to restart the swaying, rolling over to rest against Steve's side. 

Letting the silence settle around them Danny could feel all of his muscles start to finally relax. Glancing up to look at Steve he noticed a black smudge just under the other man’s ear. "Did you have fun in the jungle with your war paint?" He teased reaching up to wipe the smudge away.

Laughing softly Steve glanced down, happy to see a spark of amusement finally in the blue eyes looking back at him. "You would have hated it."

"Probably."

"The others will be here in a few hours for a cook out. I can call and postpone it if you don't feel up to it tonight."

"Leave it. It's probably better to have them over tonight so I don't over think today." Danny answered, trying to curl himself even closer as the swaying motion started to rock him to sleep. "Probably should set an alarm in case we fall asleep. No need to find out firsthand what Kono will say if the meat isn't ready for the grill when she shows up."

Snorting in amusement Steve had to agree. "That woman is a beast if she doesn't get fed on time." Pulling his phone out of his pocket Steve quickly set an alarm, fully aware that they would both fall asleep shortly. "Alarm set, it will go off with enough time for you to shower and fix your hair." He said softly, wrapping both arms around Danny and pulling closer so that Danny was practically curled up on his chest.

"Good man." 

8.

Steve watched intently as the cab finally turned down Danny's street. Even after swimming a few miles and running a few more he couldn't help but be jittery. Glancing at his watch he swallowed hard when he saw the time. Swearing at himself he almost told the cabbie to continue on, but knew he wouldn't. He had already proved to himself that he shouldn't be alone.

Over paying the driver and waving away the change, he let himself out and stood in the down pour for a few seconds, before digging out the emergency key that Danny had given him months ago. Letting himself into the apartment quietly, hoping to not wake his partner, and made his way carefully to the bathroom to grab a towel and then over to the arm chair. He had just started to lower himself into it when movement from the bed made him freeze.

"You know if you would have been anyone else, you would have had a gun in your face right?" Danny murmured in the dark, pulling the gun he had moved under his pillow when he heard someone at the door, and back towards the night stand were he kept it.

"I didn't want to wake you."

"I'm a cop. I have been doing this job for years. I sleep almost as lightly as you do." Moving to sit up in the bed, he gave his partner a once over before rolling his eyes. "Come on Babe. Get out of those wet clothes and get in bed. Did you drive or walk here?"

"Cab." Steve answered, barely moving from where he straightened up. "Danny..."

"I expected you hours ago." Danny pointed out. "If you would have checked your phone, you would have noticed that I called a few times to check up on you. When I didn't get an answer, I figured you were hiding from yourself somewhere."

"I was swimming, not hiding." Steve muttered, finally stripping out of his wet clothes, and throwing them towards the bathroom laundry basket. Reaching into the drawer were he grabbed a pair of dry boxers, not caring if they were his or Danny's and slipped them on before joining his partner under the covers.

Danny draped himself over Steve’s' larger body insuring that he wouldn't be able to leave again without waking him up first. "Of course not. You would never do something foolish like that." Danny agreed nuzzling into Steve’s shoulder.

"Why were you expecting me?"

Danny propped himself up so he could look Steve in the eye. "Seriously? You don't think I didn't know this was hitting you hard even before you told Kono about your father?" Poking Steve in the chest, he growled at the other man, "You don't think much of my detective skills do you?"

Steve grabbed the hand poking at him interlocking their fingers, and threaded the fingers of his other hand through Danny's hair before pulling him back down to rest against his chest. "You know that’s not true."

Mumbling about idiot partners under his breath, Danny once more made himself comfortable. "Honestly Babe, how are you doing?" He asked softly

Steve considered his answer for a minute thinking about lying but the tightening of Danny's fingers around his own in warning made him reconsider. Giving a deep shuddering breath "I've been better. I tried to sleep earlier, but woke up to the sounds of a gunshot echoing in my head. I finally gave up after that."

Nodding his head in understanding, Danny allowed Steve a few minutes of quiet, feeling the shudders run through the other man, knowing Steve was mourning his lose once again. "Justin Brown was not your fault. We did everything we could do, but in truth a parent will do what they think is best, even if it’s wrong." He finally said softly.

Steve shifted onto his side, pulling Danny closer and nuzzling his nose into the blond’s hair, allowing his body to relax and feeling the pent up energy finally leave. "Thank you." Hearing the truth in Danny's voice and knowing it was what he needed to hear.

"Oh don't thank me yet my friend." Danny told him, lips brushing Steve’s collar bone. "We still need to have a discussion about you keeping grenades in my car."

"Are you still upset about the pawn shop?"

Biting down briefly on the skin under him, and getting a sharp indrawn breath in response, he glanced up, a warning in his blue eyes. "No I'm not still upset about the pawn shop. I have come to expect crazy stuff out of you. I am upset over having unsecured incendiary devices in the vehicle that my _daughter_ rides in."

"So it's the storage that's the issue and not the method?" Steve questioned.

"I have issues with the method as well, don't get me wrong, but that is a work in progress, and will probably take me years to correct, therefore we will deal with methods another day. But yes Steven, if you insist on having explosives in the car, I would prefer to have them secured properly. 

Steve thought about it long enough that he could feel Danny start to relax into sleep. "I know someone who could maybe modify the Camaro to store them so Grace won't know that they are there. He could probably do the same in the trunk."

"Which already holds an arsenal in it." Danny murmured.

"Proper storage for that as well. False floor boards to hide the weapons, and racking of some kind to store the rest." Steve promised his tone hopeful.

"And your truck; I won't risk my baby in it otherwise."

"Of course." Steve said with soft smile, nuzzling in to the blond hair once again, and finally allowing himself to close his eyes and sleep.

9.

Steve's eyes popped open as he listened in the dark of his room trying to figure out what had woken him up. Hearing the sounds of the house alarm resetting itself he relaxed again, rolled over and waited for his partner who he hadn't seen in two weeks, keeping track of the man with his ears. Seeing Danny enter the room he shifted towards the middle of the bed, making room for the blond to join him and held the blankets up. "Welcome home." he murmured when Danny finally settled on his stomach beside him.

"I had forgotten how cold it could get in Jersey." Danny replied turning his head to look at Steve.

"How is the family?"

"I almost have no words to describe them." 

Grinning Steve snorted softly, "Somehow I doubt that."

Shooting his partner a quick grin Danny had to agree. "Seriously though, I don't know what Ma is going to do. Dad went silent, which to anyone who knows the man is a warning sign to stay out of his way, but Ma...she didn't take it too well."

"And your sisters?"

"I honestly fear for Matty's life if they catch up to him."

"We'll find him Danny,” Steve reassured him, "one way or another we will find him and bring him home."

"I know Babe, I know. I just... I just have a really bad feeling about this."

Steve pulled Danny closer, cradling the blond securely in his arms. "Whatever happens, we'll deal with it together." he murmured.

Sighing softly, Danny nodded his head, eyes drifting shut. "Together."

10.

Danny found Steve sitting in the sand inches away from the high tide mark. "I thought we had agreed to go for the less sandy option Babe." he said softly, holding out the bottle of beer he had opened on his way out the door, and settling himself next to his partner in the sand.

Taking a sip Steve handed it back, "just have a lot on my mind."

Taking his own sip, Danny planted the bottle in the sand between them, "anything you're willing to share?"

"I told you I was supposed to meet Jenna at the noodle house right?" Getting a nod in response he continued, "Wo Fat showed up first. He told me a few things that I'm trying to wrap my head around. Things I need to sort out somewhat before I even know how to say it to you, never mind anyone else."

Nodding his head, Danny turned to watch the ocean, and leaned against Steve’s shoulder lending his silent support. "Whenever you're ready to tell me Babe; you know I'm here for you."

Steve reached down and grabbed the bottle and took another sip of the beer before handing it over to Danny, shifting closer to the other man, who wrapped an arm around Steve's waist. 

"You remember what you told me about my brother? How we would deal with it together?” When Steve nodded he continued. “Keep it in mind, because it goes both ways." Danny told him softly.

Leaning into Danny's side, Steve nodded his head again in acknowledgement. "I know." Scrubbing his hands across his face he added, "I'm just not as good as you with sharing. I spent years..." he stopped not knowing how to finish.

"You've spent years hiding everything." Danny finished. "But you are getting better Babe. Between now and when we first meet, you have gotten so much better."

Steve nodded gratefully, thankful that he didn't need to find the words to explain himself. He honestly wasn't sure if he would ever be able to find all the words to explain after the years he spent storing everything in boxes in his mind. But somehow Danny was able to understand and put the words together for him. Relaxing even further into Danny's side, he took the bottle out of Danny's hand and had another sip of the beer, before giving it back. 

" _Mahalo_ "

" _He mea'ole_ "

**_Mahalo_ \- Thanks**

**He mea’ole - You’re welcome.**

11.

Danny snapped awake with an aborted scream stifled in his throat. Checking the time on his phone, he groaned, 2 fucking 30 in the morning. He knew he wasn't going to get any more sleep until he had physically checked on his partner, e _specially_ since he had called just before going to sleep a few hours earlier.

Grumbling to himself, he tossed the blankets off, climbed out of bed and grabbed whatever clothing was available at hand so he wouldn't be charged with indecent exposure on the way to Steve’s. Automatically grabbing his gun and badge, he barely paused long enough to slip something on his feet and walked out the door.

Being thankful that at this time of night the streets were nearly empty, and for once that it wasn't raining, he broke a few speed limits only slowing down once he turned onto Steve's street, slowing even further to turn into the driveway. Coming to a stop behind the truck he was surprised when he saw Steve step out of the cab, looking about as bad as he felt.

Scrubbing his one hand through his hair, he got out of the car and walked towards Steve, "Did you sleep at all?" 

Shaking his head, Steve ushered Danny to the door and unlocked it. "I was on my way to your place."

Punching the alarm code in automatically after he heard the door lock, Danny grunted. "Great minds."

"Tortured minds." Steve retorted.

Nodding absently, Danny kicked his runners off, and proceeded up the stairs, Steve's hand on the small of his back. "Did I leave a pair of dress shoes here?"

"Don't think so. We'll pick them up in the morning, should probably grab a second pair for here, just in case."

The two of them quickly fixed the tangled sheets on the bed, and undressed before climbing in. In difference to Steve’s injuries, Danny wrapped himself around the other man from behind, one hand directly over Steve's heart.

"I saw the whole thing in my head again. Except this time you didn't get up." Danny finally murmured, clutching Steve even tighter. "That boulder.... and the landing... I just... I can't..."

Knowing Danny wouldn't let him turn over; Steve grabbed a hand, laced their fingers together and pulled it under his chin after kissing the knuckles. "I don't land." He admitted, "I just keep falling, listening to you yell my name."

Not sure which one of them was trembling, and not caring if it was both, Danny pressed his forehead between Steve's shoulder blades, Grateful that the fingers tucked under Steve’s chin brushed up enough over the carotid artery that he could feel it pulse, proving that Steve was alive. "We are avoiding cliffs from here on out."

"To the best of our ability." Steve agreed.

"How's your shoulder? I could see that you landed on it pretty hard." 

Rotating his left shoulder as much as he could with the position they were in, Steve winced slightly. "Dressing is going to be a chore, and I am going to be spectacularly bruised for the next few days." 

"Do you need anything before attempting to go to sleep?"

Steve thought about for a moment, before shaking his head, and allowing his body to relax even further against Danny's. "I have everything I need right here." He finally admitted.

Danny smiled, placing gentle kisses against the injured shoulder. "Same Babe." he murmured, heavy eyelids finally closing. “Night."

Somehow managing to snuggle even further into Danny, he finally felt himself start to drift away. "G'night"

12.

With a small sigh Danny let his head fall back against the arm of the couch, closing his book and just listened to the sound of the rain against the window. Feeling a foot nudge his thigh he glanced up to where his partner was sitting with his own book. “Yes Steven.”

“Are you okay?”

Smiling at the concern, he gave the foot closest to him a rub, “I’m fine Babe. I could even say I’m perfectly content.” Closing his eyes, he added, “I was just thinking about Reggie and Kevin.”

“Oh?”

“Well kinda anyway. I was thinking about how bad today could have gone, and as a cop I should probably have something in place for Grace in case anything happens to me.”

“Nothing is happening to you Daniel. I won’t let it.”

“I know that, don’t you think I don’t know that?” Danny replied sitting up and facing his partner, his hands keeping time with his words. “Nothing is happening to you either, but neither of us can guarantee that it _won’t_ happen. I mean it’s not like we work in a totally safe environment, so I should even have something set up for short term unavailability not just long term. Medical proxies, emergency contact numbers that kind of thing. It would only be smart to have something in place just in case.”

“Medical proxies really?”

Going silent Danny just looked at Steve for a minute, letting the other man know exactly how serious he was. “They wouldn’t let me know anything Steve. Or let me see you.” He said with a pointed look at the other mans casted arm.

Nodding slightly in understanding Steve stood and moved over to the desk to retrieve a notebook and a pen. Pausing slightly he grabbed a few sheets of loose paper and handed them to Danny. “Next of kin forms.” He said softly. “I searched for them after you told me you had me down as Grace’s emergency contact at the school. I just haven’t had the opportunity to go through them with you since then.”

“I should have told you about that sooner.” Danny murmured looking up from the paperwork in his hand. “It’s not just at the school though. I had you added to her medical file as well. If anything happens to Rachel or I, I wanted someone I trusted to have her best interests at heart.”

“Rachel didn’t argue about this? What about Stan?” Steve asked slightly stunned.

“It actually didn’t take as much effort as I thought it would to get Rachel to agree with me. Stan even agreed that having another opinion was a good idea.”

“I’m honored Danny. You know I care about her.”

“I know. It wasn’t hard to see. The first time she called you Uncle Steve and you melted…I know that you would do anything for her.”

“I would.” Steve stated softly, a soft smile on his face as he remembered the first time Grace had called him ‘Uncle’. Clearing his throat he glanced at Danny through his eyelashes. “Next of Kin covers the medical problems. What else do you think we need?”

Danny snorted in amusement. “We huh?” Stealing the pen from Steve, he signed the forms in his hand where indicated, shaking his head when he realized that Steve had also filled out the forms that made Steve his next of kin and signed those as well.

“It only makes sense.” Steve pointed out. “Especially since you know I can be called back to active duty. That reminds me; I also need to change the information on my service record to reflect the next of kin changes as well.”

Swallowing harshly Danny just nodded his head. He didn’t want to think about the possibility of Steve being recalled. “Yeah, okay what else? Utility bills?”

“A household fund?” Steve added, snorting softly as they both looked over to where a bullet hole had been covered with a picture.”

“It will be used more for you then me I think.” Danny said with a smile. “How do you want to set that up? A small percentage of our paycheques into a joint account?” 

“That sounds about right. If it’s quiet at the office on Monday we can go to the bank and get that done. Maybe get a few stocks attached to generate some extra funds as well.”

“We could probably attach the utility bills to come out of that account too. Get it set up to pay them automatically so neither of us has to worry about it.”

Nodding his head in agreement, Steve started to take notes, as they came up with a contingency plan. Not that they would ever need it. He wouldn’t allow it. 

But if it made Danny happy he was willing to play along.

13

Steve walked up to where Danny stood staring at the ocean, and wrapped his arms around the shorter man. "Shouldn't you be resting?" He asked placing his chin on Danny's shoulder.

Setting his arms on top of Steve’s, Danny relaxed and allowed the other man to support his weight as he leaned into the solid warmth behind him. "I'm fine Babe really. Doctor gave me a complete bill of health. I just need to watch it for a few days, and don't over extend myself." 

"We just need to watch you mean." Steve chided a smile in his voice. "What else did he say?" 

"I will probably be more susceptible to chest colds" Danny admitted.

"I should put you on desk duty for the next few weeks."

"Who would keep you from destroying the island if you did that? Never mind keep the rest of our team sane."

"You're claiming Kono is sane?"

"Nope. She has spent entirely too much time with you."

Smiling slightly at the dig, he shuddered as he remembered the past few days, amusement fading away quickly. "You scared the hell out of me Danny. I totally panicked and almost froze."

"But you didn't. You kept yourself together."

"If the rest of the team wouldn't have been there..."

"But they were there. They did everything they needed to do, knowing that you were temporarily compromised." Danny told him, "They knew they needed to support you, so you could help me." Danny turned his head to look up at Steve, "this is why we are Ohana."

Danny felt Steve turn his head, and hide his face against his neck. He allowed the silence for a few minutes knowing by the faint tremors in the arms around him that Steve needed time to collect himself, before continuing once again. "Grace told me what you said to her. That you made sure she was okay, and didn't panic because I was not there to pick her up from school. That was all you Babe, not the team. You!"

The two of them stood there watching the sunset, before Danny turned around completely and looked up at Steve. "I was going to tell you about Rachel. I should have told you when it happened... I just wasn't sure if it would last. Hell I still don't know if it will last." He admitted.

"You don't need to explain anything to me Danny. A blind man could still see that you love her."

"Maybe in explaining it to you, I can explain it to myself." 

Steve just stood there and waited for the words. He could feel every aborted attempt Danny made. Tucking Danny's head under his chin he rested his cheek on the soft blond hair, swaying softly back and forth and waited.

Danny finally took a deep breath, "I know that by the end of our marriage, Rachel and I were positively toxic for each other. We spent more time yelling then talking when Grace wasn't in the house, and if she was, we were so polite I'm surprised the windows didn't ice over." Pausing briefly before continuing, hoping the words would make sense. "As much as I hated her back then, I still loved her. I owe it to myself and to Rachel and Grace to see if I am actually in love with her or do I just love her for being the mother of my child." Pulling away to look Steve in the eye, he added his voice thick with emotion, "I can't move on past her unless I know for sure, I just can't Steve."

Nodding in understanding, Steve once more tucked Danny close. A cool breeze from the ocean made Steve break the embrace reluctantly and directed Danny back to the house. "C'mon. The last thing we need right now is for you to get a draft. I'm sure we can find a movie or something to watch."

"No beer tonight. Don't want to risk it with the drugs I was on."

"Tea?" Steve teased.

"God no! Why would you go there Steven? Huh? You know I'm not a tea drinker."

"I'm sure we can find _something_ for you to drink, I think I may even have pineapple juice in the fridge."

Danny looked at Steve in shock for a second before he growled and lunged for the other man, knocking him down to the sand, fingers brushing teasingly over Steve’s sides as he straddled the other man’s legs.

Laughing Steve rolled over breaking the hold Danny had on him, standing he brushed off the sand, before pulling Danny up as well and playfully taking a swipe at Danny's hair. "Remember Daniel, you need to be taking it easy."

"Get in the house Steven. Before I show you that the last right hook I hit you with wasn't a fluke." Danny replied a grin on his face as he pushed his partner towards the house.

"Promises, promises."

14/15

After punching the steering wheel of the Camaro a few times, Danny dropped his head resting his forehead against it and closed his eyes. The desperation in the look Steve had given him, the almost pleading to be believed. Didn't the stupid son of a bitch know he would never, _never_ believe that Steve would kill the Governor?

Heading home, Steve’s' not his, Danny continually wiped moisture off of his cheeks, resolutely telling himself that it wasn't tears. Seeing HPD in the driveway of Steve's home he started to curse. Heading for the door, he opened his mouth to stop them just as they breached the house, sitting off a two toned alarm. "You stupid morons! I would have let you in." He yelled, shrugging off the hands trying to stop him from reaching the door.

"Detective Williams! You need to step back and let us do our job!"

Ripping his arm out of the hands of the idiot holding him he turned, placed his hand on the officer’s chest and pushed him back. "I am more than happy to let you do your jobs. I will happily sit back and watch you look for nothing, because I know there is _nothing_ to find. What you need to do is let me turn off the alarm." He told them, turning to walking back towards the house again. 

"No sir you do not. We will deal with the alarm company."

"Of course you will, Officer Kai is it?" Danny stated, looking the officer in front of him over. "But what you all fail to realize is you are not just dealing with a fucking alarm company. You are also dealing with the U.S Navy. So unless you want the base to invade, you will let me deal with this." By the end Danny was yelling again.

"Officer Kai let him go. Don't touch anything else Danny."

Turning Danny nodded at Duke and made his way into the house, just as his phone rang. "Williams."

"Detective Daniel Williams?"

"Yes."

"This is Ensign Roberts. Please confirm the code we have on file."

"DJ767702"

"Thank you Sir. We have been unable to reach Lieutenant Commander McGarrett. Can you confirm the situation is handled?"

"In the sense that the house hasn't been broken into yes it is Ensign, no need to send in the calvary at this time." Danny replied his words short and clipped, as he punched in the alarm code. 

For a few seconds there was only silence, other than a few clicking sounds, "Detective can you explain the situation?" 

Sighing in agitation Danny seriously considered his next words. "Is it at all possible you can contact Lieutenant Commander Joe White? Let him know that McGarrett needs him." Danny asked softly, stepping into the kitchen out of everyone’s way. "I would do it, but I don't have access to his contact information at this time."

Hearing typing in the back ground, Danny waited. A minute later a new unidentified voice came on the line. "Detective does Lieutenant Commander McGarrett need help?"

Blowing out a breath, Danny ran a hand through his hair, and moved through the house to the _lana'i_. "Steve...” hesitating briefly not wanting to give out to much information at the moment, he tried again. "Steve is in trouble." Looking out over the ocean he continued, "It may take a bit, but we can get him out of it, but at this point I don't think we need to use official means. I was informed that if something did come up to contact Joe White. I will know more on how to proceed once I talk to him."

"Understood Detective. We will pass on the message. If you need help until White can contact you please feel free to contact us."

"Thank you." Danny disconnected the call and turned back to look at the house. Grabbing one of the chairs he sat with his head bowed and his hands in hair, and waited. At this point he wasn't sure what he was going to do, but knew nothing could happen right this second. All he wanted, all he really wanted was to have Steve at his side.

"Danny?"

Looking up and meeting Dukes eyes and seeing the sympathy there he almost broke. Closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths, he looked up again, "yeah Duke?" his voice did break when he answered

"I'm sorry Danny but I have to ask. "Who lives here with Steve? We need to contact them just in case."

"What do you mean? Steve is the only one that lives here." Danny said a puzzled look on his face

"There are two sets of everything in the attached bathroom, clothes that don't belong to Steve in the closet...” he trailed off as he saw a look of dawning understanding in Danny’s eyes. "Danny?"

"It's not what it looks like." He mumbled scrubbing his hands across his face. "If you look at my place you would find the same thing." He started to explain. "We spend enough time in each other’s company that it just made sense to keep extras at the others house."

Nodding his head, Duke looked back at the house. "We should be done soon. I'm sorry it came to this."

"He didn't do it Duke."

"But you need to prove it, Danny and the evidence... It doesn't look too good."

Biting back the words he wanted to say, Danny nodded his head. Just as the older man started to walk away, Danny stopped him. "Do you think any of them will have a fit if I go in to grab a beer?" He actually wanted the bottle of scotch, but didn't think that would go over to good with present company.

Duke took in the blond, and shook his head. Danny was a mess, blood shot eyes, and hair almost standing on end. He knew Danny and Steve were close but this.... this hinted at something else. "Stay here. I'll grab you one." He said quietly.

Walking through the house, he could now honestly see that Danny did live here as well; Even if it was only part time. Grabbing the beer from the fridge and seeing the art work hanging there done by a young child, another thing to point out that Danny lived here, he brought it back to the blond.

Knowing that the silence from the other man was unnatural, he hoped for both their sake’s that this would turn out well. Resting a hand briefly on the blonds shoulder, he gave his silent support, and then went back into the house. If nothing else, he could speed up the process and get his people out of the house, before the blond did something he would regret. 

Like cry in front of the HPD.

~~H5O~~

Danny walked through the house after HPD had finished searching, straightening out things as he went, a glass of scotch in his hand. Turning he caught a picture of Steve and Grace on one of the shelves. Running a hand over it briefly, he turned and threw the nearly empty glass at the other wall. "You stupid son of a bitch! Why? I asked you not to do anything stupid, but did you listen to me? NO! No you did not." Picking up the picture, he sank down to his knees, not noticing the blotches of tears, landing on the glass. "Rachel is pregnant and on her way to Jersey with Grace. You’re in prison with who knows how many in there who would love to get their hands on you. And me, stuck here in the middle."

Shifting Danny leaned back against the wall. "Tell me Steven. What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

~~H50~~

Somehow by some kind of miracle the team hadn't gathered for food and drinks either at Side Street or Steve’s place. They had a few celebratory beers at the office along with pizza, and one by one they had all left. Even Joe, with a glance between Danny and Steve had wished the two of them a good night, and had left them alone.

Shutting off the lights, Danny leaned against Steve’s open office door and watched as the other man went over the footage they had found once more. "Hey."

Startled Steve looked up, and seeing the darkened office, and Danny standing there alone, finally shut down the laptop. "Give me a minute, and we can go home."

"Of course, take your time."

With a last quick glance around, Steve followed Danny out of the building, taking a deep breath of fresh air. Glancing at his partner, his eyes slightly haunted, he hesitated before asking. "You are coming to my place right? Staying?"

"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried Babe."

Relief flooded through Steve, and went to the passenger side of the car, tired enough that he knew he would probably be a safety hazard on the road. The drive was silent, for once neither of them talking, each just soaking up being together after just over a week apart.

Before pulling into Steve’s driveway Danny finally broke the silence. "I had to replace the door. And I may owe you a glass or two."

"What happened to the door?"

"HPD decided to break it down."

"Please tell me you took the money out of the household fund. We set that up for a reason.”

"I'm not an idiot Steven. Of course I used the fund."

"I’m sorry. I know you are not an idiot. Thank you for taking care of that for me.” He answered softly scrubbing a hand over his face, “how much yelling did you do?"

Danny just gave a snort, "Duke stepped in before I could do too much damage. I got a call from the Base though, when they couldn’t reach you. You may need to file a report with them. Probably change the code."

"Perfect." Steve groaned. "I'll do that on Monday. What happened to the glass?"

"I threw it at the wall." Danny replied flatly, pulling into the driveway.

Steve tilted his head against the window. He didn't need to know more than that. He understood perfectly what had happened. "Don't worry about it. Wouldn’t be the first time it happened over the past year." Getting out of the car, Steve stretched placing a hand on his wound, trying to keep in the grunt of pain. A quick glance at Danny told him it didn't work.

"Go take a shower Babe. I'll take a look at it after. I bet hitting the rail of the ship didn't help you much."

"I was honestly surprised you didn't say anything earlier."

"Didn't think you needed that in front of everyone at the time; If it looks bad, we can get Max to take a look at it tomorrow. Or you know go down to the hospital and have it looked at there."

Leaving Danny downstairs, Steve made his way upstairs, and into the shower. Leaving the water to warm up he stripped down before he unwrapped the bandage wincing at the blood that had soaked through. Glancing down, he didn't see any torn stitches, and sighed in relief. At least that hadn't gone wrong.

Stepping under the hot spray, he leaned against the tiles and allowed the water to soothe his muscles as he washed away a weeks’ worth of prison grime. Since he didn't bother closing the door, he could clearly hear Danny rummaging around in the room beyond. "I brought you something to wear. I didn't think we would be leaving the house for the rest of the night, so I figured something soft would work."

Reaching his hand out beyond the curtain, he smiled when he felt Danny grab it. "I'll be out in a few minutes."

"Wow. No three minute Army shower today huh?"

"I am not even going to answer that right now." Steve snorted, pulling Danny closer to the shower, so he could place a kiss on the knuckles he held in his hand. "I'll yell at you tomorrow about the differences between the Army and the Navy."

"I'm going to hold you to that Babe." Danny replied, a smile on his face he knew Steve would hear, even if he couldn’t see it, and turned his hand around to blindly cupped Steve's cheek before sliding his hand away. "Did you want to order in some food, or are you still good from the pizza earlier?"

"I'm good for the moment. If we need something later, I'm sure one of us can find it in the kitchen."

Humming his agreement, Danny paused for a second at the door. "Going to bed right away, or did you want to sit on the beach for a bit?"

"Not going for the less sandy option?" Steve teased.

"Figured you would want to see the ocean," Danny replied, "Swimming for a few days is out of the question, but sitting by it would be an acceptable compromise."

Steve marveled for a second over Danny's understanding, as reached for the shampoo (Danny's) before answering. "A beer while sitting on the beach would be good."

"I'll go grab the cooler then. I want to check that wound before we go out."

"I _am_ capable of doing it myself."

"I know that. Don't you think I don't know that?” Danny swallowed hard before continuing. “I would be happier if I could see for myself that you’re okay." Danny admitted his voice thick.

Finally understanding, Steve finished rinsing and shut the water off. Grabbing a towel, he quickly wiped himself dry before he wrapped it around his waist, and stepped out. Giving his partner a once over, he opened up his arms. "Hey, I'm okay. I swear it. I'm okay."

"I know. It's stupid." Danny started, wrapping his arms around Steve and clinging. "Rachel saying she wanted to leave the island, and then you getting arrested. I knew that something would happen in there. There are too many inmates that we have put away for you to have been safe without someone to watch your back." Taking a deep shuddering breath he continued "And then Hesse stabbed you..."

"He saved my life." Steve murmured.

"I know. We talked to him. But still. You escaped from a moving ambulance, and I didn't know where you had gone. No back up, no nothing. If Max hadn't called..."

"And the first thing you do when you see me is yell."

"You deserved it for being a moron."

"I know." Tightening his hold on Danny slightly he continued. "Thank you. It was the thought of you that kept me from sinking too far into my head over the past week. I'm pretty sure I would have sunk too far down with no way to return if it hadn't been for you."

Forcing himself to release the hold he had on the muscles in Steve’s back, Danny pulled back, placing a soft kiss against the hollow of Steve's throat before letting go completely. "Let me see." He demanded softly, grabbing the first aid supplies he would need from the closet before sitting on the edge of the tub.

Stepping closer, Steve allowed Danny to pull the towel down far enough to inspect the wound. Light fingers trailing over the bruising that was started to darken his skin from when he hit the railing on the ship, before brushing over the actual wound. Taking in a shuddering breath, he lost it in a gasp of surprise when lips replaced fingers. "Danny..."

"I know... I know Steve. It's just..." Trailing off, Danny carefully applied anti-septic cream over the puncture, followed by a gauze dressing before standing. "I nearly lost you. Twice. Once to my own stupid inability to let go of the past." Closing his eyes, he tried to moderate his breathing before he continued. "I spent a lot of time over this past week alone in my head. I could clearly see why there is no way it would work between Rachel and myself a second time. And then she told me about the baby being Stan’s." Shuddering he opened his eyes, seeing mixed emotions in the green ones staring back at him. "I am not, I repeat _not_ in love with my ex-wife. I was in love with the concept of having my family back. And then I got the call that you had been....You had been stabbed, and it hit me that I had my family right here. That I could have lost it forever..." He trailed as the tears he had been holding back for most of the day finally spilled over.

Steve growled softly in the back of his throat, and pulled Danny back into his arms, desperation keeping his grip tighter then comfortable. "No matter what happens, you will not lose me. I promise. If you leave I will follow. I will haunt you, if it comes down to it, just so I don't break this promise I am making." Gentling his hold, not letting Danny respond, he continued. "The only thing I had for this past week was what was in my head, and the only thing in my head was you. When you told me about Rachel...” trailing off he took another shuddering breath not even bothering to hide his own tears, "I thought you were honestly leaving when you told me that Rachel and Grace were in Jersey. I was prepared to break out, maybe even try to prove my innocence before I followed you. When you came back the next day..." Unable to continue, he buried his nose in Danny's neck, just breathing in the scent of his partner.

Danny's hold on Steve was just as desperate, the nails digging into flesh were sure to leave marks. "I don't know where this thing between us is going, I never thought..." Pausing to rearrange his thoughts briefly he continued. "Where ever this goes, however long it takes, no matter what it takes. I promise we will get there together." He swore

The two of them stood wrapped in each other neither caring about the passage of time. Steve finally stepped back, and wiped the remains of his tears off, before wiping Danny's eyes as well. "Still up for the beach?" He murmured.

"Get dressed. I'll grab the beer." 

When Steve made it out to the beach, he noticed that Danny had managed to grab a spare blanket and a couple pillows that he had spread out on the sand, inches away from the high tide mark. "Still compromising?"

"The two basic premises of any good relationship; compromise and communication." Danny said his smile still slightly strained from earlier. 

Steve bypassed the second pillow and sprawled against Danny instead needing to be close only lifting his body slightly when he felt Danny try to prop himself up on the second pillow as well. "What are we telling the others?"

Huffing slightly Danny passed Steve one of the bottles he had brought out with him. "Since I have no idea how to explain what this is to us, I have no clue what we are telling Chin and Kono."

Nodding his head in agreement, Steve shifted slightly, "Maybe we don't tell them anything until they ask."

"They will ask eventually."

"I know. But maybe by then we'll have a better answer for them."

Humming softly in agreement, Danny allowed the sound of the waves to soothe him. Grace was coming back to the island, and Steve was back where he belonged. At this moment his world was right. He knew Steve felt basically the same. Feeling his eyes start to droop, he nudged Steve slightly in the shoulder. "You have 10 minutes before I drag you back into the house for the sleep that we both desperately need. Go get your feet wet."

Turning so he was kneeling over the other man, Steve bowed his head so their foreheads were touching, a moment later he stood, pulling Danny up with him. "Go grab a shower I'll be up in a few minutes."

Danny reached up and brushed hair out of Steve's eyes, before trailing his fingers down to cup the other man’s jaw. Feeling Steve turn and press a kiss into the palm of his hand, Danny smiled. "Don't make me hunt you down. You will not enjoy it."

Danny heard Steve in the bedroom, just before he turned off the water. Drying himself off and slipping into his boxers, He smiled when he saw Steve sprawled across the bed. Lifting the covers, he slid under them, just as the other man rolled onto his side. He allowed Steve to pull him close, so they were nose to nose. "Did you sleep at all over the past week?"

Shaking his head, Steve shifted them both so he could nestle the blond head under his chin. "How ‘bout you?"

"I tried. Your bed, my bed, the hammock. Managed to doze off a few times, but I couldn't actually sleep. Seems I was missing something every time I tried."

"Did you find it?" Steve asked with a smile, already feeling himself start to drift off to sleep.

"Yeah, felt like forever to figure it out, but now that I know, I don't plan on letting go." Danny mumbled, sleep already started to pull him down.

"I don't either." Steve whispered, pressing a kiss to the blond hair. "Go to sleep Danno. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Hunting you down, and shooting you if you’re not."

"I promise I’m not leaving your side again."

"I'm holding you to that." Pausing slightly Danny added, " _E komo mai hale_."

A smile lit up his face as he placed another kiss against the top of Danny's head. 

Welcome home indeed.


	2. Officially or unofficial? That is the question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hard to write for two reasons  
> 1\. I didn't care for this season...*Cough/Lori/cough*  
> 2\. I was pissed off at the finale. Catherine!!Really?? The writers could have done so much better at the ending of the episode. I liked it but the ending flopped big time.

Disclaimer… I still don’t own them and I make no money from writing this. 

Officially or unofficial? That is the question.

1.

Nudging the front door closed with his foot, Danny carried the bags of groceries into the kitchen. Glancing out the window, he spotted the towel over the beach chair and grinned to himself. It had only been about an hour since they parted ways at the office, which meant Steve had only been out for about 20 minute of his normally hour long swim. 

Putting the last of the stuff away, Danny ran up the stairs to change into something looser, before heading down to start supper prep; they had hours yet before everyone showed up, but the more he got done now the more he could relax later. Considering this was the first team meal with Lori he really didn’t want to be rushed into anything.

Between making a marinade, cutting veggies for a salad and memories of cook outs back home with his family as well as the music coming from the radio, Danny lost total track of time. Not even noticing that Steve had returned to dry land and was leaning against the doorway watching. 

Steve for his part had known the moment he put his feet on dry land that Danny was home; he couldn’t tell you how he knew but there it was. Grabbing the towel to wipe himself down, and making a detour to the utility room to change out of his wet board shorts, he followed the music to the kitchen. With a small smile, he leaned against the doorway and just watched marvelling again that Danny was here, and had no intention of going anywhere anytime soon.

His smile turned into a mischievous, as he slowing walked up behind the shorter man, wondering exactly how close he could get before Danny noticed him. The grin kept getting larger with every step he took until he was standing right behind Danny, and grabbed hold of the knife with one hand, pulling Danny against him with the other. Feeling Danny jump in shock he barely managed to hide his chuckle as he buried his nose in the joint between the blonds shoulder and neck. “Hey.”

“Jesus Christ” Carefully letting go of the knife before he did something he just might regret later, he flexed his hand that had been captured by Steve to loosen the grip slightly and used the other arm to elbow Steve sharply in the side to create room to turn around. “Steven!” He hissed, “I should put a freaking bell on you. Next time make some noise huh.”

“But this way is so much more fun.” Drawing Danny back against him, he rested his forehead against Danny’s. “I stood there watching for a few minutes and you didn’t notice. We have to work on those observational skills of yours.” 

“My observational skills are just fine.” Danny snorted, tucking his head under Steve’s chin and wrapping his arms around the other mans waist. “You’re just a super ninja SEAL who happens to be a lot more silent than normal people.”

Humming softly, Steve pulled Danny closer still, enjoying just having the other man in his arms, swaying slightly with the music on the radio. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay? Of course I’m okay! Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Startled Danny pulled back so he could look Steve in the eye, and froze when he saw the uncertainty there. “Don’t be an idiot Steven. I already knew you were dangerous. Operation Payback just highlighted the skills we all knew you had in greater detail.”

“It’s just; I thought you… any of you would never see that. Would never need to see what I could do within a SEAL team.”

“Not that you are actually confirming that you did any of that huh” Danny stated with a soft smile. “It may have come as a surprise to Chin and Lori, but me Babe, not so much.” Sliding his hand up and around to message the nape of Steve’s neck, he continued, trying to alleviate the disbelief in Steve’s eyes. “You forget that I actually see the crazy things you do more than the others see it. I can see you calculate your surroundings; come up with that first plan of attack, before revising it with other less trained people in mind. I know just how dangerous you are. I’ve known this since we first pulled our guns on each other. This… this isn’t going to change my mind about anything,”

Seeing the truth in Danny’s eyes, Steve took a deep shuddering breath, “Thank you.” He breathed out, tucking the blond head back under his chin, allowing the remaining tenseness to drain out of his body. As long as he had Danny he could handle what the others thought of him.

After a few minutes, Danny pulled back and smiled up at Steve. “Are you done being an idiot now?” His smile just spread further when Steve’s only answer was huffed laughter. “Good. You can help me finish getting this stuff ready. Then we can go relax for a bit before the others get here.”

“Sure Danny whatever you say.” 

With the two of them working together, they managed to get everything they needed done quickly. There were no words spoken, just a comfortable silence. As they were cleaning up, Steve glanced over at Danny. “When I came in earlier, you were deep in thought. Care to share?”

“It was nothing really, just thinking how I use to help Ma and Nana put together the food for family gatherings back home.” Feeling Steve still beside him, Danny quickly looked up to see what was wrong and saw a flash of something before it could be covered up in Steve’s eyes. Going over what he just said, Danny reached out for Steve, honestly thinking of slapping the idiot upside the head. “Stop it. Whatever just went through that thick skull of yours, just stop it”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Bull Shit Steven.” Pushing Steve into a corner, Danny held him there, knowing he needed to get through to the stubborn man in front of him. “Yes New Jersey will always be my home. I grew up there and nothing will change that. But this? This is also my home. Here, with you. I’m sure I told you this once before, but I will spell it out for you further. I am not leaving you. You are stuck with me. Even if you decide one day to tell me to leave and never come back, you will still have me. Do you understand?”

Looking down into fierce blue eyes, Steve bowed his head. “I just… I mean…” Wiping at his eyes with his thumbs he tried again. “Some mornings when I wake up alone, I think this is all a dream. That I’m going to wake up one morning and you won’t be here. That we never meet and you are just a product of wishful thinking.” He finally managed to get out, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Oh Babe, what am I going to do with you?” Danny sighed. Searching the eyes before him he slid his hands up Steve’s arms until he was cradling his head. Not thinking about it, he took a half step closer, and pulled Steve down to him, slanting their lips together. It took a second before Steve responded, but when he did, everything else just fell into the background. It was just the two of them, and the feel of finally sharing this moment.

Shaking slightly from the emotion that a simple kiss could generate, and feeling the same from Steve, Danny pulled back, and smiled up into shining green eyes. “I make this promise to you Steven McGarrett. I am no dream, and I am not leaving.”

Swallowing hard Steve nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Half hour later, found the two men curled up in the hammock a faint breeze coming off the ocean. Idly tapping a pattern on Steve’s chest Danny contemplated what to say. “I may have a solution to one of your issues.”

“Hmm?”

“I was going to bring it up later, but in light of what you told me…” Stopping Danny shifted so he could look Steve in the eye. “I received a notice from my landlord. He’s sold the building to some developer. It’s going to be torn down in about 2 months to make room for some luxury condo or something, and they want us out by the end of the month.”

“Are you asking to move in?”

“Do you want me to move in?”

In a sudden move, Steve had flipped them so he was on top of Danny with one hand cradling Danny’s head like a pillow. “If I’m being perfectly honest, if I would have though you have accepted the offer, I would have had you living here months ago.” Nuzzling into Danny’s neck he felt a shiver going down his spine when the blond moved his chin giving Steve better access. “Half your stuff is here anyway. It won’t take that much to get the rest. We can have you moved in by next week.”

“What about Grace?” Danny murmured, threading his fingers through dark hair.

“We can clean out my old room. She can decorate it however she likes.”

Pulling with just enough force to make Steve raise his head, Danny went for another kiss, slightly deeper than the first. “We have to tell Grace what’s going on, Rachel as well.” He said when the pulled apart.

Settling back down, keeping Danny pinned with his body, Steve nodded his head. “Of course we do.” Having to verify, Steve raised his head just enough to see Danny’s eyes. “You are moving in right?”

“Of course I am. What a silly question.” Danny hummed softly, scratching his nails against Steve’s scalp. They had an hour or so before the others started showing up. He figured it was time well wasted just laying there, relaxed and content.

~~H50~~

“I don’t think I like her.” Danny stated, putting away the leftovers they hadn’t been able to pawn off on their guests.

Steve looked up from where he was stacking the dishes. “Who Lori? Why?”

Pushing up to sit on a clean area of the counter, Danny tried to think of the best way to state what he was feeling. “I feel like I’m under a microscope when she’s around.” He finally murmured. “We were talking on the way from the Garcia’s when she decided she needed to profile me. Mrs. Garcia had mentioned they were thinking about a getting a divorce, and because I was rubbing my ring finger she said that I was thinking about my marriage.”

“Were you? Thinking about your marriage I mean.” Steve asked softly.

“Funny enough, no I wasn’t, or at least not my marriage to Rachel.”

“Then what were you thinking of?”

Danny reached for Steve and pulled him close, taking Steve’s left hand in his own. “I was thinking of you.” He answered softly, placing a kiss on Steve’s ring finger.

Steve’s breath hitched when he heard the emotion in Danny’s voice. Linking their fingers together he brushed a kiss across Danny’s knuckles in response, and let the silence settle around them. 

When he figured he had his emotions under control again, Steve led Danny outside, grabbing a couple beer on the way past and into one of the lounge chairs that they could both curl up in. “Why else don’t you like her?” He prodded once they were both comfortable

“She’s too interested in you.” Danny admitted. “I’m use to people watching you, you can’t walk anywhere without people checking you out, but with her it’s different…Almost calculated.”

“She’s here to spy on us. Beyond what help she can give during a case I have no interest in Lori.” Steve stated. “Let her try to figure me out, it won’t work.” Nuzzling into Danny’s neck he made sure he had Danny’s complete attention and kept his voice soft, but firm. “I am happier then I remember being in years, with you by my side. I do not expect that to change anytime within the next century or two. Believe me Babe; you are as stuck with me as I am with you.”

Settling back against Steve to watch the sunset, Danny squeezed the hand he still held, a content smile on his face; he put worries of Lori out of his head. They would deal with her later if need be. 

~~H50~~  
“Hey Rachel, I was wondering if I could come over to talk to you and Stan?”

‘Is something wrong Daniel?’

“Nope, not wrong, just important. I’ll need to talk to Grace as well.”

‘I see. Will Steve be joining you?’

“Probably.”

‘Very well; you can come over today during Grace’s tennis lesson and then you may take her out afterwards as long as you have her home by 8.’

Danny stared at his phone for a moment once it disconnected, before looking over at Steve. “Well that was unexpected.”

“Something wrong?’

“I don’t know. She’s usually not this accommodating. She said to come over during Grace’s lesson, and then we could have her for a few hours afterwards.”

Steve just looked at Danny with a slight grin on his face. “More time with Grace is a good thing though.”

“More time with Grace is an awesome thing. But not having to fight for it makes me wonder what exactly she has planned for later.” Shaking his head in bewilderment, Danny glanced at the time. “We should go. Lessons start in about 10 min.”

Rachel meet them at the door, and escorted them to the back patio. Shaking hands with Stan, they made small talk while drinks were served, tea for Steve coffee for Danny, before Rachel leveled a look at the two of them. “Alright, what is this about?”

Danny leaned forward and looked Stan in the eye. “First I wanted to apologize. For everything that has happened over the last few months. After my brother…left…I found myself needing comfort from someone who knew him from before. What happened was wrong, and I regret it. I did not come here that night with any intentions other than to seek a bit of comfort. Instead I turned into a world class asshole. I just hope that if you cannot forgive me, that you won’t hold it against our dealings with Grace.”

Stan visibly relaxed. “When everything else is factored in, I don’t think forgiveness is too far out of reach. I don’t think it will happen right away but… until then, Grace is our first priority.”

Danny ran his hands through his hair, and gave Stan a smile of relief. “Thank you.” He breathed out, some of the tension leaving his body. Turning to look at Rachel, he tried to find the words that he needed next. Not sure why this was harder then he thought it would be. Glancing at Steve, he could see that the other man was nearly as nervous as he was.

Rachel, for her part glanced between the two men, before smiling. “Knowing you the way I do, I shall save us all a bit of embarrassment.” She started, “Have you set a date for the wedding yet?”

Danny groaned as Steve laughed. “Not yet.” Steve finally managed to say, as he rubbed circles on Danny’s back. “We’re just taking this one step at a time. We figured that with our change in relationship as well as the fact that Danny is moving in with me, that we would at least let you know. Officially that is.”

“Danno, are you and Uncle Steve really going to get married?” Grace asked from the doorway.

The four adults all looked up at her at the same time; none of them had heard her getting home. Opening up his arms, Danny gave his daughter a large smile. “C’mere Monkey.” Catching the running jump, Danny wrapped his arms around his little girl, and turned them both so they could include Steve in the hug as well. 

“That’s one of the reasons we are here Gracie.” Steve started, “we wanted to let you know before everyone else that we are starting to date.”

“We wanted to make sure that it was okay with you.” Danny added.

“And we are moving in with Uncle Steve?”

“Yeah, is that okay with you?”

Grace sat back and looked at the two men, before smiling and nodding. “Your eyes sparkle again Daddy; so do Uncle Steve’s.” She said, throwing her arms around Danny’s neck in a tight hug.

Kissing the top of Grace’s head, Steve hid his eyes in Danny’s hair, effectively blocking anyone else from seeing him cry. Wrapping his arms around father and daughter, Steve held on, grateful that he was being given the chance to become part of this family, and daring anyone from trying to take it away from him.

2.

Taking the path down to the beach Danny watched Steve watch the ocean. Sighing softly, he turned around to grab the lounge chair and a blanket. Knowing that the only thing he could do was wait when Steve was in one of these moods. He was just thinking of maybe going to grab a couple of beers when he saw Steve’s turn to meet his eyes.

Steve smirked slightly seeing Danny sitting there, “should have grabbed a few pillows as well Danno.”

“I left them on the hammock. I figured we might need them later.”

“Compromising again?”

“Brooding again?” Danny returned, “C’mere.” He added softly patting the chair next to him. “Found the words to tell me what’s eating you yet?”

Snorting softly, Steve sat, and pulled Danny into his arms, a quick flick of the wrist had the blanket spread out over the two of them protecting them from the chill breeze coming in off the water. “Remember when I asked Joe to have that video looked at by one of his contacts.” Steve asked softly.

Lacing the fingers together Danny nodded his head. Not really liking where this was going.

“I asked Catherine to check on the status of the analysis, since Joe kept putting me off, and it just didn’t sit right. She was waiting for me in my office when Lori and I got back to HQ.”

Grumbling softly at Lori’s name, Danny shifted slightly so he could place a gentle kiss on the underside of Steve’s jaw. “She didn’t find anything.” He stated, not really needing confirmation. Shifting sideways enough that he could wrap his arms around Steve he rested his ear above Steve’s heart. “And you confronted Joe didn’t you?” 

Nodding his head Steve buried his nose in Danny’s hair, and just breathed deeply for a few minutes. “He said he didn’t give it to his contact in an effort to protect the entire family, not just me.”

Lifting his head he gave a Steve an incredulous look. “Now see…that just makes me want to know what Joe knows about this. What or who in the world is he protecting now?”

“That is exactly what I am trying to figure out as well.” Steve murmured.

Sitting up further Danny continued. “Shouldn’t he know by now that you’re a stubborn bastard who’s not going to give this up? I mean come on… He trained you. What the fuck is he thinking? This is just going to make you worse than before.”

Steve grabbed hold of the blond’s hands; by this point he knew the best way to derail a major rant was to hang on to them. “Danny.” He said quietly. 

“Shit.” Danny stated, running a hand through his hair after he reclaimed one of them from Steve. “I’m sorry Steve. I didn’t mean to…”

“I understand. I feel the same way. He is one of the best men I know, but he is so damn closed mouthed, and his habit of not telling me things…”

“We’ll figure it out.” Danny told him quietly, settling back beside Steve and reversing their previous positions, running his fingers through the dark hair.

“I told Catherine.” 

Danny stilled. 

“I told her I would buy her dinner as repayment for favors asked, but anything else was off the table.”

“How did she take it?” Danny asked his voice just above a whisper.

“She wasn’t happy when I told her I was in a relationship that had the potential to be forever.” Steve told him softly, a hesitant smile on his face, which grew when he saw the answering one from Danny. “I don’t actually think she believed me once I told her it was you though. She’s going to need time to come to terms with it which she’ll get since she’s being deployed tonight”

Cupping Steve’s jaw in his hands, Danny drew him in for a soft kiss. They didn’t have a definition for their relationship. As far as he was concerned they didn’t need one, taking each day as it came, but this… this made it even more real than it already was. “I hope for your sake that she does come to terms with it. From what you’ve told me, she’s a great friend to have at your back.”

Steve nodded, “I just really want the two of you to get along.”

“Well I’m already predisposed to like her. I mean she’s dealt with you for how many years now? And she didn’t go insane.” Danny said with a grin. “As long as she doesn’t do anything stupid like try to hurt you we’ll be fine. Ball is in her court now; all we can do is wait.”

3

“Get a lock on Kono’s cell. We’re bringing her in.”

Danny didn’t bother watching to see if Lori did as Steve asked. He just followed Steve. With the sound proofing quality of the glass walls he couldn’t make out what Chin had been saying but he could read Steve’s body language like a book. 

“Hey. Hey, hey. Steve.” He called softly following his partner. Placing a hand on the broad shoulder in front of him, he managed to direct them both to Danny’s office. Taking a second to close the blinds, Danny turned and found himself wrapped in long arms; returning the embrace he wound his arms up and dug his fingers into the dark hair, doing nothing more than holding on.

“Why didn’t she come to us?” 

Steve’s words were muffled by Danny’s shoulder, but hearing the anger and helplessness in them, nearly broke Danny’s heart. “I don’t know Babe. But we’ll find out. We’ll find her, and we’ll find out.”

Feeling Steve’s arm loosen just slightly Danny rocked forward the half step needed to pull Steve closer once again. Chin would let them know when he found something, until then he wasn’t letting go.

~~H50~~

Chin’s eyes moved from Danny’s office door to Lori and back again. It wasn’t often that Steve and Danny blocked them all out at work. In fact he had only seen it once before, but they all knew to respect it. Or at least he did, Kono as well, but Lori hadn’t been with them long enough to pick that fact up. Seeing the look in her eyes, Chin tried to derail her from disturbing the two of them at least for the moment. “Stop whatever it is you’re thinking Lori.”

Lori blinked before looking at Chin. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what world you lived in before now, but here… closed blinds mean privacy. If you need their attention knock once on a window or door and walk away until they come out. But make damn sure when you do that you have pertinent information to share.”

“What?”

“Here is a fact you can add to that profile you have on everyone. Danny keeps Steve’s training in check and Steve keeps Danny’s temper in check.” Giving Lori an intense look he spoke clearly enough that she couldn’t misunderstand. “Danny is talking Steve down. I’m surprised that he let Steve be alone with me to begin with. There is a very good reason he is Second in Command.”

Lori’s answer was lost when he actually managed to get a trace on Kono’s cell. Walking over to the nearest window Chin knocked softly on it. When the other two men emerged moments later, Chin could still see the tension in Steve’s shoulders, but could also see that it was more restrained, unlike earlier. Giving Lori a pointed look, he followed them out of the room, praying to whatever god would listen that this would turn out well.”

~~H50~~

Looking up at a knock on his office door, Danny nodded for Chin to come in. His eyebrow rose when Chin closed the door behind him. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to thank you for not letting Steve go off the deep end today.”

Danny snorted softly, “You’re welcome. Now you want to tell me the real reason you’re in here with the door closed? Do I need to close the blinds as well?”

Giving Danny a rueful smile, he looked over his shoulder to see Kono still in Steve’s office. “I know better than to block your direct view of Steve when he’s in a mood. I’m just glad that it’s no longer directed at me. How’s he doing with Kono?”

Not even bothering to deny how accurate Chin was, Danny glanced up just in time to meet Steve’s eyes. Giving the other man a smile and getting a lip twitch in response, he looked over at Chin. “He’s fine. Just making sure that Kono understands she doesn’t need to take on the world to keep the rest of us safe.”

Relaxing further into the chair, knowing that his cousin wasn’t been raked over the coals to harshly, Chin gave Danny a significate look.

“I can’t read your mind Chin, you are actually going to have to explain?” Danny said in return.

“Lori.”

“Ah. Bad enough to talk to me, but not bring it to Steve’s attention yet huh?”

“She tried to get information out of me about Steve before everything went wrong. She tried to cover up her interest, said she was just trying to get a read on him but…”

“But she isn’t exactly subtle about it; A little to calculating in her interest of Steve.”

“Exactly!”

“As far as Steve is concerned, she’s a spy. He doesn’t trust her with more than work related stuff, and I do believe that he is going to have fun trying to give her different ‘signals’ to profile.”

Taking that in Chin nodded in understanding. “You don’t like her either.”

“It’s not that I don’t like her. She’s good at what she does. But….”

“But she’s trying to step into your territory, and it’s rubbing you the wrong way.” It started out as an actual question, but turned into a statement of fact, just by the way Danny looked at him. They all seemed to forget that Danny was just as dangerous as Steve in his own way. The look he was receiving now was a reminder.

“Something you would like to know Chin?”

Studying Danny’s face, he caught the tiniest sparkle of amusement that just couldn’t be hidden, and Chin relaxed. “Ho’omaika’I Brah.”

“Mahalo.”

“How long have the two of you been together?” He asked barely masking his surprise that not only did Danny understand him, but answered him in the same language as well.

“You know, that’s a very good question. Guess that depends on if you want the official answer or the unofficial one.”

Grinning he just motioned for Danny to continue. Of course he wanted both.

Returning the grin Danny shot another quick glance at Steve, just as Kono opened the door to leave Steve’s office. Catching the concern and slight question in Steve’s gaze he waved it off before turning back to Chin. “We actually acknowledged it out loud the day he got out of prison. But before that?” Shrugging his shoulders, he continued. “Who knows? We are not actually confirming anything with anyone until they ask you know.”

“And with DADT just being repealed… I understand man, I won’t say anything.”

“It’s not that we’re not telling people, it’s more like we want to see how long it takes everyone else to catch up.” Danny said with another grin as he motioned to Kono to enter his office instead of waiting outside. “Looks like I have my next appointment waiting.”

“Nah brah, I just wanted to thank you for having my back.” Kono replied with a bright smile. 

“Always; don’t ever, ever doubt that Kono. If you need us we’ll always be there.” Danny replied, standing and wrapping her in a hug, avoiding the wound on her arm. Seeing how she was wavering on her feet he motioned for Chin to grab on to her. “Now you let Chin take you home and clean up that arm. We’ll get together for a meal after we’ve all had some sleep.”

Chin nodded in understanding as he directed his cousin out of the office, her wave goodbye being just this side of exhausted.

Danny closed up his office, noticed that Lori had already left for the day and headed for Steve’s. “You done?”

“Yeah, I’m not going to get anything else done tonight. Paperwork can wait ‘till tomorrow, after I call Denning’s to get Kono reinstated.”

“And the things Fryer said to you? Do I have to tell you again that it’s not your fault?”

“Do you ever get tired of saying it?” Steve asked him instead of answering.

“Not really no. Someone has to tell you, and I was just lucky enough to have gotten the job.” When Steve looked up at him, he let honesty lace his words with truth. “I am one of the luckiest people on the planet because I found you. If proving to you over and over again that things like this are not your fault is the price, then I am happy to pay it.”

By the time he was done, Steve was out of his chair and had Danny wrapped in his arms. No words spoken but Danny could hear loud and clear Steve’s answer.

Ho’omaika’i: congratulations  
Mahalo: Thank you

4.

Hearing the slam of the front door, Danny glanced up from his book and watched the lana’i door, he knew Steve was upset from the lack of answers he was getting from Joe, but this sounded worse than normal. Seeing the bottle of scotch and two glasses in Steve’s hand when he finally did emerge had him bracing himself for the worst. “What happened?”

Pouring them both a drink Steve walked out towards the ocean, knowing that Danny would follow. “Do you remember Mokoto?”

“The Japanese pilot?”

“Wo Fat tortured and killed him.”

“Wait…What? Are you sure it was him?”

“He also attacked Joe last night.”

“Jesus Christ.” Danny downed the scotch and tossed the empty glass back onto the grass before wrapping his arms around Steve, creating a living anchor for the other man to cling too. “Is he alright?”

“Bruised but fine otherwise.” Steve told him, one arm winding its way around Danny’s body, and holding tight.

“I would ask why he didn’t call last night but I’m afraid I already know the answer to that.”

“We both do.”

“Now what?”

“We find Wo Fat. There has got to be something out there that will tell us what the fuck is going on.”

Nodding his head, Danny gave himself a mental note to text Chin and maybe Toast as well. See if there were any other programs they could run to hunt down something about Wo Fat. “Did Joe tell you anything more about Shelburne?”

“Nope.”

“Okay then we deal with all of it later; As in tomorrow or next week. Today, right now we think about our victories. We closed 2 cases within 24 hours. That’s a good thing Steven.” Pulling away slightly so he looked up into green eyes, “and you got to indulge in your rooftop fetish and found yourself in an MMA ring.”

Snorting softly Steve finished his drink, and directed them both towards the house their arms around each other. “I really did enjoy that. But I have got to be honest; I would have appreciated you in the locker room with me instead of Lori.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to resist shoving you in a locker and not letting you back out again until after the match.”

“True. But then I wouldn’t have had to put up with Lori hitting on me.” Feeling Danny stiffen, he pulled the shorter man closer. “Relax Danny. She missed her mark.”

“I certainly hope so.”

Turning to face his partner, Steve laid a hand on Danny’s cheek. “You know what else I would have appreciated in the locker room?” He murmured his voice dropping an octave. “This.” Leaning down he pressed their lips together, happy to know that Danny was on the same page, as he felt the blond push up into the kiss.

5.

By the time HPD had shown up and the team had made their initial reports, it was late when they made it home. All Danny wanted to do was wash the scent of smoke and whatever chemicals still clung to him off and curl up with Steve in bed. Unfortunately he knew better then to do it.

Walking into the house behind Steve and setting the alarm, he leaned against the door, eyes closed and hoped this conversation would go better then he figured it would. “We need to talk Steve.”

“We really don’t Danny. I’m going to go and grab the first shower.” Steve didn’t bother waiting around for a response.

“And that is exactly how I expected this conversation to go.” Danny told the empty room. 

By the time he made it up the stairs, gathered up his sleepwear and made into the bathroom, Steve was already out. Stripping down, he stepped under the still running water and grabbed the soap. “Steve. Please, we need to have this discussion.”

“It can wait until morning. I’m going to bed.”

Sighing heavily Danny finished his shower. Entering the bedroom, he saw Steve curled up on his side facing away from him, and knowing it was hopeless, tried one more time. “Steve.”

“No!”

“Alright; we’ll do this your way.” Turning around Danny went back down the stairs, grabbed a glass of ice tea from the kitchen and went out to the lana’i. Leaning back in his chair, legs stretched out before him he waited for the dawn.

~~H50~~

Hearing Danny walk away, Steve was actually a little grateful. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to sleep with the man, while being this upset. Settling down, he closed his eyes, did a couple sets of breathing exercises, tried not to think of the cluster fuck Danny made of everything and waited for sleep to claim him quickly, like it normally did.

And he waited.

Rolling over, he punched the pillow, rearranged the blankets, and waited some more. Stretching out on his back, he reached for his phone saw the time and swore. Why is it always between the hours of 2 and 4am with them? Throwing back the blankets, he swung his legs off the bed and groaned.

Making the same circuit Danny had made over an hour earlier, Steve went to the kitchen grabbed a glass of water, before joining Danny outside on the lana’i. “Can I convince you to come to bed?” He asked knowing the other man was awake.

Taking a deep breath, Danny barely opened his eyes enough to see Steve’s profile in the dark. “Can I convince you to talk before daylight?”

“Why is it so important to talk now? Why couldn’t this have waited?”

Sighing softly Danny sat up slightly before he responded. “My mother told me before I married Rachel to never go to bed with bad feelings between us. I didn’t listen. The last nearly two years of my very failed marriage, Rachel and I fought, and then we went to bed. In the beginning it was the same bed, neither of us slept and we got up for our day with little to no sleep, and we fought more. It was a bitter cycle. And I realized that Ma was right. Sleeping while upset never works.” Turning his head so he could watch Steve, he added. “I don’t want to make the same mistakes with you. I tried Steve. Three times I asked you, and you shut me down each time. I don’t know what else to do, so here I sit, waiting for the dawn.”

Steve scrubbed his hands through his hair, and had to admit, at least to himself that Danny had a point. “I’m not upset with you, I’m just very disappointed.”

“Is that any better?”

“No, not really. At first I was grateful that you walked away. Figured I could sleep, and deal with this all when I had a clearer head. It didn’t work.”

When nothing more was said for a few minutes, Danny hauled himself more upright, and turned to face Steve. “Since the beginning of this case I have been given a cold shoulder by everyone, and yes I understand I fucked up. I know it will take time to prove that I am not the insensitive jerk everyone thinks I am. If of course the rest of you will actually let me do so.” Here Danny paused, trying to find the words without making a bigger mess out of all of this. “Here is where I start getting upset though, and yes I do have a reason to be upset with you today as well. Vandalism is not an act of God nor is it an act of some other spiritual cultural thing I do not understand; it is an act of Man. I was targeted by Samuel right from the moment I got out of the car before I did anything wrong. Because I was a haole. Not because of any cultural belief. And you and Chin both brushed it off.”

Steve looked past his own disappointment to try to see things from Danny’s point of view. Running a hand down his face he admitted that his partner was correct. “We did brush it off. I was more focused on how you could be as disrespectful as you were, then on anything else.”

“I know that. I tried to apologize a few times, but you all continued to brush me off. I can’t try to make this right if none of you let me.”

Steve scrubbed his hands through his hair. He did remember a few times over the course of this case when Danny had tried to talk to them. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“Do you want to know what hurt me the most today Steve? The fact that it was you who kept on about the disrespect; I had no idea you believed in the Hawaiian culture. We have discussed this once way back when we first met, but you’ve never said anything since. None of you have. And yes I know that it doesn’t make things right but…”

“You haven’t had time to learn about the cultural beliefs that the rest of us have grown up with have you?” Steve stated, “We’ve been on the go basically from day one, and we all forgot that you haven’t truly been here long enough to soak in the culture. I’ll see what I can do, talk with Kono and Chin and figure out how to get you…us… more involved with both the community and the culture that goes with it.”

“Thank you. I would appreciate that.”

The silence between the two of them was much warmer than before, once more a comfortable friend. After a few minutes, Steve stood and reached out a hand for his partner. “Can we go to bed now?”

Huffing out a short laugh Danny reached for the hand. “Yes Steven we can go to bed now. We’ll probably both over sleep our alarms, but that’s okay. The boss said we didn’t have to show up until after lunch.”

A grin lit up Steve’s’ face, as he led the way back up the stairs. “Good thing your boss is such a nice guy huh.”

“Well he’s sure something alright”

6.

The first few hours after pulling Steve out of the back of that truck passed in a blur. Other people touching Steve because it was necessary, and having to keep himself for beating each and everyone one of them for doing what he himself could not... He knew the medics were only doing their jobs.

Lori needed to back off before she started losing body parts.

He thought he was doing a damn good job keeping his rage at everyone else in check; right up until he saw Joe give him a startled look and then shared a look with Chin. After that… things started to get a little easier. Nobody really wanted to piss Joe off, and Joe made sure everyone knew his first priority was Steve. Anyone who touched Steve after Joe started growling, did so in a strictly professional manor. Even Kono and Lori after the first hug or three went back to just a gentle touch on the shoulder, a more ‘thank God you’re okay’ move then anything.

After Steve had been looked over by a medic and given the okay to head home, Joe had done something that allowed Danny to forgive him for the bullshit he had pulled so far with Steve. He had found a quiet corner of the hanger they were told to wait in for their flight out, padded it with a few blankets told Danny to sit his ass down before he fell down, and dropped Steve almost on top of him.

Rearranging themselves so Steve was comfortable with his injuries, a grateful smile thrown Kono’s way when she draped a blanket over the two of them, and Danny’s hand slid under Steve’s shirt, finally, finally touching warm living skin and Danny allowed himself to just breathe.

After a few minutes of sitting shoulder to shoulder, Steve managed to turn so he was using Danny as pillow, “how are you all here?” He breathed out just loud enough for Danny to hear the awe in his voice.

“The case we were working on when you left, led back to Jenna.” Danny’s voice broke; he wasn’t sure what he thought about Jenna at the moment. “I tried calling you, but you never answered. I knew that something was wrong. The others tried to tell me that it was probably nothing. Heavy tree cover or what have you. But I just…” 

Pulling Steve slightly closer to him, though not as close as he wanted the man, he nearly choked on his next words. “Then Jenna called.” Closing his eyes, and trying to not hurt Steve more when the grip he had on the other man’s hip tightened, he continued, his voice thick with unshed tears, “I hate her so much right now…so very much, but at the same time she gave us what we needed to find you.”

“In the end, she forfeited her life to save mine.” Steve murmured, his voice shaking with the emotion to match Danny’s.

Danny nodded his head in response. He knew that: Didn’t mean he liked it too much. “We are not doing this again Steve. We can’t… I can’t lose you!”

“I know. I know. We’ll think of something.”

By this point they had both turned enough so their foreheads rested together, neither caring what anyone else would see. When they did move, it was only far enough so Steve could nestle against Danny’s shoulder once more, and Danny trying to curl around Steve in such a way to not cause even more pain.

The silence stretched out long enough that Danny nearly fell asleep while Steve leaned against him, watching the other members of their little band of misfits. “How much hell did you raise back home?” Steve finally asked.

“Not as much as you might think.” Danny told him softly. “I told Joe, who was with Wade, that you were here and that I thought you were in trouble. When it was confirmed by Jenna that you were actually in trouble I talked to the Governor. He couldn’t do anything in the limited time span we had, so Joe put together our reason to be here.”

“And the SEALs?”

“R&R. They thought it would be fun.”

A flurry of activity from the other side of the hanger told them that their ride had arrived. Before anyone else could come and help; Danny carefully shifted Steve over and stood up. Making sure his own centre of gravity was secure; he reached for Steve, and eased the other man up and into his arms. Waiting for a few seconds to catch their balance the two of them turned, and slowly made their way over to the rest of the group.

“The two of you good?” Joe asked, the look in his eyes making it clear the question had more than one meaning.

Sharing a look between them, Danny nodded his head as Steve answered. “Yeah we’re good Joe.”

~~H50~~

Lt. Jacks joined the two cousins while they waited for their flight and noticed that they both very carefully didn’t look at the two men on the other side of the hanger. “Is that normal?” He asked, glancing over at where the other two had nearly curled around each other.

“When one of them is hurt you mean? Yeah that’s normal.” Chin answered. 

“They would do nearly the same thing for one of us.” Kono added, “just you know, with a bit more personal space.”

Seeing the speculative look in the other man’s eyes, Chin waited for Jacks to look up, before he nodded confirmation, his eyes hard with a clear warning. Yes Danny and Steve were together. Make something of it, and there was a chance of not surviving.

Jacks just nodded, “I’m glad they have each other, makes something like this much easier to get through.”

~~H50~~

The first night back in O’ahu was spent with people in and out of the house. The Governor, while not one of those coming in person, called Danny shortly after they landed and give his personal instructions. It seems that they had all been on a team building exercise for the week. With Lori joining the team and Kono being reinstated, it only made sense. He was extending their time away by another week, just because he thought they could use it. 

Unofficially, he was happy that Steve was relatively okay, and that he was to use this extra week to recover. Anything he needed medical wise was to be done without a hospital visit unless absolutely necessary and they were to find a way to add the costs into the 5-0 budget; discreetly of course.

Good thing Chin was engaged to Malia. 

7.

Steve watched as the students found their parents, happy that they hadn’t lost anyone else over the course of the day. Glancing up when he felt Danny’s hand land on his shoulder, he could see the conflicting emotions in those blue eyes. Narrowing his own eyes, he watched as Danny moved away from the crowd, he knew what had been circling in the blonds mind all day. The same thing that had been circling in his own; these kids were only slightly older then Grace.

When they all got back to HQ, it was still early enough in the day that with a bit of effort, Steve could get most of the paperwork done and still hopefully put his plan into action.

With having both vehicles at HQ, Steve got Danny’s attention and indicated that he would meet him at home. The moment he got out of the elevator he was on the phone, hoping that his request would be granted.

“Rachel, it’s Steve; have you seen the news today?”

~~H50~~

“I cannot believe that you got Rachel to agree with us having Grace here for dinner.” Danny said, still in slight shock.

“It was honestly easier than I thought it would be.” Walking around the bed, Steve slid under the cool sheets and stretched flat out on his back, waiting for Danny to join him. “All I did was ask if she had seen the news…I didn’t even get around to asking if we could have Grace for a few hours. She just offered. No that’s the wrong word. I was informed that she had been expecting one of us to call, and she would have Grace ready to go within 20 minutes.”

“If I wasn’t so damn grateful for that right now, I would be worried about what she has planned.” Sliding into bed Danny leaned on his elbow and brushed the thumb of his other hand back and forth along Steve’s collar bone. “Thank you Babe. Having her here tonight was a godsend.”

“It made you happy.” Steve stated with a gentle smile. “I would do nearly anything to keep you that way.”

“You have one of the biggest, softest hearts I have ever seen Steven. I do not know what I would have done if you had never entered my life.”

Closing his eyes briefly, Steve was unable to find the words to express what he was feeling; instead he pulled Danny down to him. He had always been better with actions anyway.

8.

The first time that it happened, Kono didn’t think much of it, too busy watching Chin and Malia walk down the aisle together. It wasn’t like it was an uncommon motion between Danny and Steve, shoulders bumping together was an everyday sight between the two of them.

The second time it happened, she only noticed that it was different because their hands brushed together, it could have happened by accident, but she was pretty sure she saw Danny tap a certain finger on Steve’s left hand.

The look the two of them shared, while Chin and Malia exchanged rings was something else though. She could have sworn she saw a promise being made between the two of them.

She managed to keep her thoughts to herself; right up until Steve pulled her onto the dance floor during the reception.

It took her most of the song before she found a few words. “You and Danny…” She trailed off.

“Was that a statement or a question Kono?”

“Both I think.”

Steve gave a wide grin. “Yes.”

“Oh my God Steve, really? Since when? Who knows?”

Laughing Steve spun her around. Shaking his head in amusement he glanced over her shoulder, and just as the song ended spun her again, and smoothly handed her off to Danny. “Enjoy.”

“Thank you so very much Steven.” Danny snarked, but his eyes were alight with something else mixed with amusement.

“It seems our fearless leader has left me to deal with you like the coward that he is. Alright Kalakaua, ask your questions.”

“I am so happy for the two of you Danny.” She said her eyes soft, but with a small spark of wickedness in them.

“So are we.” 

“When did this happen and why did none of us see it? Are you hiding it from the rest of us?”

“No Kono, we’re not hiding. We’re just not announcing it for the world to hear. Besides it’s more fun to sit back and wait for people to figure it out.”

“The two of you have always had something extra going on between you; Right from the first day.”

“Yeah well I still wasn’t happy with him back then.” Danny told her, a small grin on his face.

“Sooo…”

“Get your mind out of the gutter woman. We still haven’t done more than kiss.” He admitted. “What happens will happen when it time for it to happen.”

“But...” She prompted.

“Steve being in prison may have prompted us.” He finally answered. “Officially anyways; before that.” Danny shrugged not having an answer for her.

“Who else knows?”

“Who else can you gossip with you mean?” Danny said with a laugh. “Grace and Rachel of course. Chin knows, which means Malia probably knows. Duke I think figured it out the night Steve went to jail. Or at least he got a pretty good idea after having to deal with me that night. Joe knows. I think that’s everyone who I know actually knows.”

“I wish you both a very happy life.” Kono told him

“Mahalo Ku'uipo.” 

Once she got over her shock, Kono’s bright laugh rang out over the dance floor. “Come on Kaikau’ana that deserves a drink. We’ll make Chin buy.”

“I can drink to that.”

Ku'uipo- Sweetheart   
Kaikau’ana – Big brother.  
Mahalo. – Thanks 

9.

Danny could see how restless Steve was, so after they got home from dinner, he suggested a walk on the beach. He even went as far as to leave his foot ware at home in order to walk in the surf. Seeing the look of gratitude in Steve’s eyes told Danny that he had made the right choice. 

Neither of them broke the easy silence that had cloaked them as they walked, both of them content just being together. When Steve reached for his hand, Danny just gave the other man a soft smile and gave it a gentle squeeze.

It wasn’t until they reached a rocky section of deserted beach that Danny pulled Steve to a stop, “You know I can tell when something is bothering you right?”

“I know.”  
“You also know that you can tell me anything. You don’t have to keep whatever it is to yourself.”

“I know that as well.”

“Can you tell me then what has been bothering you for the past couple of weeks?”

Steve let go of Danny’s hand and walked further out into the water. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he turned back to Danny. “Alright, I told you that HPD had evidence that pointed at Joe for Hiro Noshimuri’s disappearance and probable murder right?”

“Uh huh.”

“Joe helped Hiro fake his own death.”

“Wait what!?”

“Adam tried to have him killed earlier today, and after that failed, Joe set up a meeting between the two of them. He called Hiro and handed the phone over for confirmation.”

“Wow. Okay, I didn’t expect that. Why?”

“Hiro became a loose end.”

“And Wo Fat was going to have him killed for it.” Danny added nodding his head. “I can see how that would make sense.” Tilting his head to the side, Danny stared up at Steve. “What else?”

Steve snorted softly, “After you called to let us know it was a boy, he took me to my dad’s grave. He said that Shelburne was a code name they made up to protect me and Mary.”

Turning Steve kicked at the water, sending it sparkling in the sunset. “He’s leaving.”

Wrapping his arms around Steve from behind, Danny offered what comfort he could. When Steve turned in his embrace, he placed a kiss in the hollow of the taller man’s throat, and waited for the rest of it.

“Joe told me that he was Shelburne and needed to leave before Wo Fat came after him in revenge.”

“Do you believe him?”

“I don’t know.”

~~H50~~

After watching the sunset wrapped in each other’s arms, they turned and made their way back home, Steve’s arm remained around Danny holding him close, Danny’s arm wrapped around his waist. 

As the twilight darkened into true night, Steve sighed before nuzzling Danny’s hair. “How are you doing after today?”

“I am very glad that Charlie didn’t take 36 hours like Grace did.”

“Danny…”

“I know Steve, I know. It just hurts still.” Taking a deep breath as Steve tightened the hold on his shoulders he continued. “I know that I was the only one available to be there for her today. I was happy to do it. But for a while I thought he was mine; and it hurt to be the stand in for Stan, especially when everyone kept confusing me for her husband.”

At some point they had stopped, and Steve pulled Danny closer, and just held on. After a few minutes, he placed a kiss on Danny’s forehead and urged him to continue walking. He knew that he was already doing the only he could do to help ease the ache his partner was feeling.

It didn’t stop him from wishing there was more though.

10.

Following Danny into his office, Steve closed all the blinds before pulling Danny into his arms. “Hey talk to me.”

Shaking his head, Danny thought about resisting, but he knew that Steve wouldn’t go for it, and allowed himself a few minutes to soak in the comfort that his partner offered before going to check up on the mailbox. “We use to have grill outs together. Grace is friends with his kids.” He mumbled into Steve’s chest, moisture gathering in his eyes.

“We’ll get the guy Danny.” Steve whispered, brushing kisses against Danny’s hair line.

“I know.”

~~H50~~

Chin and Kono shared a look after watching Steve and Danny leave with Rachel and Grace.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Danny like that.” Kono murmured. “Not even in North Korea. He scared me today.”

“He comes across as the loud mouth haole, who can’t stop complaining about everything anything and we all forget that he can keep up with Steve without a problem, and he is just as dangerous.” Chin said softly. 

Kono felt a shiver go down her spine. Steve was bad enough on his own; she didn’t want to see what would happen if Danny lost it enough to not hold back. She didn’t think the island would survive.

~~H50~~

Steve watched from the doorway of Stan’s hospital room, as Danny tried not to fuss over the other man. From the look in Rachel’s eyes she knew this fact as well. Catching Rachel’s attention he indicated that he would be back in a few minutes and left to go find Dr. Mai. It was lucky that Stan’s doctor was the same one that treated the team when they came in for injuries. It would make his request a lot easier.

Returning to the room 15 minutes later armed with blankets and pillows, he found Rachel and Stan both fighting to stay awake, while Grace lay curled up on her mother’s lap, with Danny rocking a sniffling Charlie. Smiling at the scene he dropped his goodies on a chair and crossed over to Stan. “Will you trust me if I tell you that sleep really is the best medicine for a bullet wound?”

Stan looked between the other two adults and the attached kids before looking back at Steve, “I don’t want…” he trailed off.

“Fine, then trust me when I tell you we will all be here when you wake up again.”

“Uh, Babe? You know they’re going to kick us all out soon.” Danny tried to explain.

Steve sent a smile to his partner. “Dr. Mai is his doctor.” He stated.

Snorting softly, Danny gave Stan a nod. “She gave up arguing with Steve last year, said it wasn’t worth risking her blood pressure. Go to sleep we’ll be here when you wake up.”

Looking between the two men, Stan sighed and let his eyes drift closed. They opened a moment later when he felt movement on his good side, as Rachel, with Steve’s guidance settled in on the bed beside him. “We’ve got the kids; the two of you need to sleep.” Danny said softly from the foot of the bed. Feeling Rachel relax into his side, Stan smiled and fell into a deep healing sleep. Rachel following seconds later.

“Uncle Steve?”

“Give me a second Gracie and you can go to sleep as well okay?” Seeing her nod her head, Steve spread a blanket over Rachel before lining a corner of the room with pillows and blankets. Noticing that Grace was wearing different clothes, he sent a questioning look towards Danny, who simply nodded towards a backpack sitting next the couch. Nodding in understanding Steve stood back and surveyed his handy work. With a small smirk of satisfaction, Steve sat on the cushioned floor, back against the wall with a clear view of the door and opened his arms to the little girl. “C’mere sweetheart.”

Danny smiled gently as Steve tucked Grace tight against his side. Making sure the babe in his arms was fast asleep, he carefully lowered himself in between Steve’s legs curling up sideways, so he could keep Charlie cuddled up between the two of them. He hummed softly in contentment when he felt Grace somehow drape herself over top of Steve so she could also curl up with Danny, before falling asleep instantly.

Burying his head in Steve’s shoulder, Danny allowed the terror of the day to rush through him, and he started to shake. Feeling Steve’s hand run through his hair, he felt the tears fall as well. When Steve turned his head to hide it in Danny’s shoulder, he knew before he felt the warm moisture land on his neck that Steve was also in tears.

Steve’s pulled his emotions back into control shortly after he felt Danny fall limp against him after crying himself to sleep. Running through his breathing exercises a few times to make sure they stayed that way, he was just about to attempt to follow his partner into dreamland when he heard footsteps pause outside the door. 

When he saw Dr. Mai poke her head in, he held his breath briefly, knowing that she could still kick them out if she felt like it. He let it out once again when she left. He had just closed his eyes, when he heard her return and enter the room. Opening them he saw her shake out another blanket and drape it over the four of them on the floor. Nodding his head in thanks, Steve finally drifted off himself.

He didn’t notice when Kono and Chin showed up 10 minutes later with the things he had requested she pick up both from his place and from the Edwards.

Kono placed the bags on the couch and silently approached the four on the floor. Taking out her phone she snapped a quick picture before turning and taking one of Stan and Rachel. Seeing Chin shake his head at her, Kono sent him a brilliant smile before leaving just as quietly as she entered, pulling the door shut behind her, leaving the occupants to their much deserved rest.

11.

Catherine stood back and watched the boys argue over who was going to get the last bid in on the football tickets, shaking her head in amusement. Smiling at Kono she leaned in close making sure her words didn’t travel past the two of them. “How much do you wanna bet that they both want to win the tickets to give to the other?”

“That’s a sucker bet.” Kono grinned, a wicked light in her eye. “I’m actually pretty sure that they’re ‘only’ arguing because they’re in public.”

Indicating Lori, who was putting in a bid for the tickets while the boys were distracted, with a tilt of her head, Cath looked at Kono in confusion. “What’s up with that?”

“That would be an indication that Steve just got the tickets as a valentines present.”

“She doesn’t know?”

“She’s ignoring the evidence. How I’m not sure, but she’s doing it.”

“Oh to be a bug on the wall when she figures that one out.” Catherine stated with a grim little smile. “If I couldn’t keep him after all these years there is not a snowballs chance in hell that she’ll even come close.”

“Oh you have no idea. We’ve been placing bets on when Danny will out right challenge her.” Kono told her. “I think the only reason he hasn’t is because Steve has been keeping him distracted.”

“Now that I believe.”

~~H50~~

Steve glanced up from the tickets he had in his hand and to look at Lori. “I can’t accept these from you. Not for a Valentines gift.” He told her, his voice soft “especially now that you’re leaving.”

“Why not? I would have asked you to go to the games with me anyway.”

“And I would have said no.”

“What? why?”

“Lori… Danny and I…”

“Are you saying it’s true? That you are actually together as in more than work partners?”

“We have been since before you joined the team.” Steve told her honestly, “I thought you knew.”

Lori wiped away the moisture gathering in her eyes. Chin and Kono had both tried to warn her. Looking at the office window her eyes meet Danny’s and saw understanding in his blue eyes. “I guess I didn’t want to see it.” Looking back at Steve she smiled. “Keep the tickets for the two of you. Try to make it to as many games as possible.” 

“We will.” Steve promised.

Stepping forward she gave him one last hug before walking out of the office pausing long enough to give Danny a hug and a kiss to the cheek.

~~H50~~

“Catherine.” Danny called out with a smile. 

Rolling her eyes at the tone of his voice Catherine gave Danny a hug. “I wasn’t expecting to see you before I left.”

“Yea well an Animal we both know has decided he would rather spend his time on a boat with many other people, then here with us so…”

“I hope you’re not expecting me to talk him out of doing drills this week.” Catherine asked in shock.

“No! No I wouldn’t do that. I know what this means to him.” Looking up at Catherine through his eyelashes Danny gave her a hopeful look. “I know this is going to sound odd, and you’ll probably not be able to do much, but I just wanted to ask if you would keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble, if you know what I mean.”

“You want me to watch his back since you won’t be there to do it.” She stated, shocked that Danny would trust her with this.

Danny took a good look at the women in front of him, trying to figure out the tone in her voice. After a moment it hit him. “Oh. Oh hell I’m sorry Catherine. I know you and Steve had a good thing going for a few years. I’m sorry it happened this way, I just…” Running a hand through his hair, Danny turned his back to her. “I wasn’t looking for anything ya know. It started out as friends, but it turned into something totally different than we expected it to, and now…”

“Do you love him Danny?”

Turning back to face her, Danny smiled softly. “I don’t know what term to use here Catherine. But I do know that I want to spend the rest of my life figuring it out.”

Catherine’s eyes glittered with unshed tears as she pulled him into a hug. “Then I know that he is in good hands. And I will be honoured to watch his back for you.”

“Thank you.” Danny breathed out, wrapping his arms around her.

12.

Danny woke up alone in the bed, one out stretched hand reaching nothing but cool sheets. Glancing at the clock he groaned when he saw it was nearly 3 am. Staggering out of bed, and down the stairs he looked automatically out the window facing the beach. Seeing Steve standing just at the edge of the grass, he groaned again, and grabbed the pillow and blankets they left in the utility room. Making enough noise so as not to startle the other man; Danny proceeded to lay one blanket down directly on the hammock along with the pillow. Curling up, leaving the other blanket at his feet he waited for Steve to join him.

When Steve did finally curl up against his back, Danny sighed in relief. He wasn’t sure what was bugging his partner but he knew it couldn’t be good news. “Is Mary alright?”

Steve gave a soft hum before responding, “She’s fine, happy that she still has her job despite everything.”

“That’s good. I’m happy that we managed to help her.” Lacing their hands together Danny placed open mouth kisses against Steve’s knuckles. “So what’s bothering you then?”

Steve pulled Danny even closer as he tried to find the words to express what he was thinking. “I don’t believe Joe is Shelburne. I think Shelburne was the real reason my father was killed and probably my mother as well. I need answers Danny.”

Danny rolled over, pushing Steve on his back, so he could lay over top of him, folding his arms on Steve’s chest so he could look his partner in the eye. “So what? Are you going after Joe then? By yourself?”

Steve closed his eyes briefly before meeting Danny’s, and wrapping his arms around the blond. “I don’t see any other option. I tried calling him but he hasn’t been answering his phone. I’ve even asked Catherine to look for him and she has come up with nothing.”

Danny lowered his forehead to Steve’s chest, sliding his arms around and under Steve, fingers clinching in the other man’s shirt. He could feel Steve grow more and more tense the longer he was silent, but at the moment Danny just needed to think. Finally taking a deep breath he released the grip on Steve’s shirt and slowly levered himself back up to look Steve in the eye. “Did you want me to come with you?”

Steve released the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. He didn’t know what he would have done if Danny had put up a fight. Reaching up he grabbed Danny by the nape of the neck and pulled him down into a heated kiss, pulling a groan from the other man. “Thank you.” He whispered against Danny’s lips when the kiss ended, both of them panting slightly. “Thank you for not fighting me on this.”

“Joe’s family, I would never fight you over something like this.” Danny whispered back, placing a few kisses over Steve’s jawline.

“We both can’t go.” Steve admitted, “I need you here taking the lead for 5-0.” 

Danny knew that, so he just nodded in response. “You will not cut me out of this, do you understand. I want to hear from you often. We are not doing North Korea all over again.” Danny told him, voice rough with emotion. Threading his fingers in Steve’s hair he held the other man still, making sure Steve knew exactly how serious he was being. “I don’t care how dangerous it is, you need to let me know that you’re okay.”

Steve flipped them over and proceeded to bury his face into Danny’s shoulder, shuddering slightly as he felt the tension drain from his muscles.

“When does your plane leave?” Danny asked softly.

“There is a flight that leaves in the morning.”

“Have you booked your ticket yet?”

“I wasn’t going to do that without talking to you first.” Steve admitted. 

Danny ran a hand up Steve’s spine, feeling a shudder going through his partner from the movement. “Text me when you land, and every 12 hours after that.”

Steve shook his head in response. “It will be too dangerous to leave that kind of trail.”

“No words just numbers.” Danny told him thinking fast. “Birthdates. Yours, mine, Grace, Mary, the team, my family; I know you know them all. Every 12 hours you can text a different date; text Rachel’s birthday if you are in trouble but can deal with it and Matt’s if you need a rescue.”

Steve stilled for a few seconds as he went over the pros and cons, before he nodded in acceptance. Anyone else would see random numbers, with no way to predict which one would be used next. Shifting his head slightly, he nipped at Danny’s collar bone, before laying a kiss over the same spot. He tried to shift his weight to the side so he wouldn’t crush Danny, but the blond just pulled him in tighter. 

“Go to sleep Babe, I’ll drop you off at the airport in time to catch that flight.” Danny whispered. 

Humming slightly in response, Steve turned his head slightly closer to Danny’s neck and allowed himself to relax fully, content now that he had some kind of plan worked out with his partner.

13.

Danny paced the living room waiting for Steve to get home. As much as he wanted to watch the man that had fucked over Steve’s life, be locked up in prison, he knew that being there wouldn’t do either of them any good. The brief hug they had shared, and the casual touches that followed did nothing for the fact that he may be slightly touched starved after the time they spent apart. 

Maybe.

Probably.

He just wanted Steve back in his arms where he belonged.

Hearing a vehicle pull up outside, Danny had to suppress the need to open the door and drag Steve into the house. He only managed to wait long enough for the front door to close.

It helped that Steve was reaching out for him at the same time; and by the look on his face feeling just as needy as Danny himself. “You are not allowed to leave for longer than a week every again. I mean it. It’s not happening.” Danny grumbled into Steve’s shoulder. Pushing back to get a good look at his partner, Danny ran his thumb across the cut on Steve’s forehead, wiping away dried blood and dirt, before wrapping his arms even tighter around the taller man.

“A week is still too long.” Steve answered roughly. “And I’ve been gone longer than that.”

Pulling away again, Danny started for the stairs. “C’mon. You need a shower and I need to see what other injuries you have. Do I even bother asking if you need to see a doctor?”

Following Danny up the stairs, he kept a hand on the blond, not willing to allow Danny to step to far away. “I don’t need to see a doctor. The worst thing I have is some bruising, although I am going to have to be careful of my left shoulder for a day or two.”

Stepping into the bathroom, Danny turned to help take of his shirt, easy it over and down the left arm so Steve didn’t strain the shoulder more. Smoothing his hands over Steve’s chest, Danny had to restrain himself from helping with the rest of Steve’s clothes and instead turned to start the shower.

It only took a few seconds for Steve to finish stripping, and he reached out for Danny again, “join me.” He said, wrapping his arms around the shorter man. Feeling Danny stiffen in his arms, he almost thought he had pushed too far, before he felt Danny relax and nod. Smiling softly, Steve stepped back just far enough for Danny to remove his own clothing, before pushing the blond ahead of him into the water.

The two of them stood there for a few minutes wrapped around each other, before Danny pulled back soaped up a cloth, and started to wipe the blood and grim off the taller man.

The tenderness in Danny’s touch nearly brought Steve to his knees, there were no hurried movements as Danny used his hands to reaffirm that Steve was home and safe. Closing his eyes, Steve hoped that Danny would just think that any tears that might have escaped were just moisture from the shower, as he allowed the blond to move him as he was washed clean. He bowed his head, when he saw Danny reach for the shampoo bottle and sighed as strong fingers worked his hair into a lather, digging blunt nails into his scalp.

After washing Danny down, knowing he was using the same amount of tenderness Danny had shown him, Steve pulled the blond into his arms, content to stand under the pounding water and just be.

14.  
Danny got off the phone with the lawyer and braced himself for what was coming next. He could see the concern in Steve’s glance, and knew it was time to share. “Alright listen to me, just don’t jump to conclusions and listen. Okay?”

“Are you going to tell me what’s been bugging you all morning other than this case?”

“Because the case isn’t a clusterfuck alone.” Danny muttered. “I was going to tell you as soon as I had a chance. And the call came in and Joe showed up, which by the way will be explaining as well.” He told Steve, giving the man a sideways glare.

“When I know what the fuck is going on with him.” Steve growled slightly in response.

“Exactly. See keep that in mind, I wanted to know more before I worried you more then I’m already worried.”

“Alright so share. What’s the problem?”

“The problem is that Stan just got a project in Vegas and they want to move. Rachel wants to take Grace off the island.”

Steve’s hands on the steering wheel went white with the force of his grip, he could feel the beginnings of panic/terror creeping in. He was not losing his partner. “Danny…” he managed to choke out.

Danny’s head snapped around to Steve and he reached out and grabbed Steve’s arm. “I told you not to jump to conclusions didn’t I? I’m not leaving the island but most especially I’m not leaving you. Take a deep breath and relax. I promise that I am doing everything I can to make sure Grace stays here.”

Steve felt the metal bands around his chest loosen enough to take a deep breath, followed by a second and third. The muscles in his arms unclenching as he let go of the steering wheel and grabbed hold of Danny’s hand. “So that call…”

“That call was my lawyer, and I’m trying to figure out how to stop this thing.” Danny told him, pulling Steve’s hand over so he could place a kiss on the knuckles.

Steve took that in for a moment, before responding. “What are our chances?”

Danny smiled softly at the ‘our’ in Steve’s question. “We have a good case, but it’s going to get ugly. I’m going to have to drag Rachel through the mud and I’m not sure if I want to do that.”

Steve gave Danny’s hand a squeeze before letting go again. “At least we know why Rachel has been so agreeable.”

“Maybe. I think there’s probably more to it though.” Danny said softly.

Steve sighed softly, agreeing with his partner. Glancing over he saw Danny with his eyes closed, leaning back against the window. Putting a hand on Danny’s thigh he squeezed gently, giving silent support the rest of the way to HQ.

~~H50~~

Danny’s heart stopped as he saw Steve take multiply rounds in the back, and he stopped thinking as he fired into the other room, on his way to Steve’s side. Even with Chin’s reassurance, he didn’t relax again until he heard Steve’s voice. The look in Steve’s eyes was just as desperate as he knew his own was. He really didn’t like it when those green eyes went from desperate to steely; he knew he wasn’t going to like what happened next.

He fully intended to kill the man himself when they were alone.

~~H50~~

Steve wasn’t sure if he actually believed that Joe was finally going to tell him who Shelburne was, but he knew he had to take the chance. His heart contracted painfully knowing that he was going to be leaving Hawaii so soon after returning. He also knew that Danny was going to kill him for this. Hearing Danny’s voicemail instead of his partner he frowned but left a quick message, reassuring his partner that he would use the same code as before, and then followed Joe out the door. 

Hopefully Danny would forgive him sometime in the very near future.

~~H50~~  
Landing in Japan Steve listened to his voicemail, and smiled at the rant he got in return from his partner. Reading between the lines, he knew he was forgiven. The part about fighting Rachel over custody of Grace made the part of him that was still reacting to the first time Danny said it, ease slightly.

Keeping his promise he sent a text to Danny to say he had landed.

~Voicemail Steven really?~ Danny replied quickly.

~I was going to leave a note, but figured a phone call was much better.~

~you wouldn’t have survived the experience if you would have left me a Dear Danny note.~

~I know. Hopefully home soon.~

~better be. I already miss you.~

~me too~

Shutting down his phone, Steve turned to where Joe waited. “Alright Joe lets go. The sooner I get home the better.”

Joe smiled before motioning to a waiting vehicle. “Trust me son, this will be well worth it.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how the military works.... just having a bit of fun with what could have beens.


End file.
